Gumball

Don Fleming, Eric Vermillion and Jay Spiegel recorded Special Kiss in 1991. The album is a locomotive blur of abrasive pop and gnarly guitar psychosis. "You Know," in particular, recalls the singalong corrosion of Teenage Fanclub, a sense amplified by the appearance of all four Fanclubbers on the track. Having been previewed abroad with the four-song Gumball EP, Special Kiss was followed in the UK by Light Shines Through: three album tracks (one an alternate take) and four non-LP numbers. To mark time before their full-length Columbia debut and show off their catholic musical taste, Gumball went the covers route on the five-song Wisconsin Hayride. Besides Foetus, Black Flag and Small Faces material, "New Rose" is a frisky carbon of the Damned's debut single. Super Tasty is exactly that, a snappy commercial effort produced by Butch Vig with the polished hum'n'snarl of classic '70s pop-punk clatter by Cheap Trick and Blue Öyster Cult. Gumball's attack is, if anything, a little too slick for the times, but Fleming's boyish tenor and the chrome-torpedo riffing guards the manifest kick of discontent in "The Damage Done" (neatly disguised with an exuberant intro of guitar-drums clamor and bright, wheezing harmonica) and the bittersweet ballad corn of "Marilyn." Super Tasty is a buzzin' good time, heightened by the extra guitars and keyboards of new recruit Malcolm Riviera (an old Velvet Monkeys crony). Revolution on Ice... The title and cartoon artwork are a combined blast at the corporate co-opting of the alternative-rock revolt; with songs like "Revolution on the Rocks" and "Nights on Fire". The album's open-wound air, however, makes it Gumball's strongest effort to date. Revolution on Ice... crackles with a dark, seductive intensity. The BÖC connection is reinforced by a letter-perfect rendition of "She's as Beautiful as a Foot," complete with guest vocals by that band's original drummer, Albert Bouchard. [David Fricke/Ira Robbins] Trouser Press Online