March 1, 2002
SING SING DEATH HOUSE
By DARRYL STERDAN

SING SING DEATH HOUSE
The Distillers
(Hellcat / Epitaph)

Hell hath no fury like Brody Armstrong scorned. And from her crappy childhood to the miserable state of the world, it seems she's ticked off at damn near everything. Thankfully, Armstrong -- the singer and guitarist of incendiary L.A. foursome The Distillers (and, incidentally, wife of Rancid's Tim Armstrong) -- has channeled that rage into the staggering Sing Sing Death House, the band's second disc and hands-down the best album of the year so far. With a dozen tunes jammed into a half-hour, Sing Sing Death House is an adrenaline-fuelled, Rancid-style rampage of majestically thrashing guitars, raggedly frantic drumbeats and neck-snapping stop-start dynamics. At the centre of the maelstrom stands the battle-scarred Brody, eloquently spitting her wrath and pledging her punk allegiance in a razor-blade slur that fuses Courtney Love, Patti Smith and Wendy O. Williams. Except that Brody could kick all their asses. The Distillers' self-titled debut was on our best-of list for 2000; we're saving a spot for Sing Sing Death House this December. You should save a spot for it in your CD changer. (More on: The Distillers).

Track Listing

  • 1. Sick Of It All
  • 2. I Am A Revenant
  • 3. Seneca Falls
  • 4. The Young Crazed Peeling
  • 5. Sing Sing Death House
  • 6. Bullet & The Bullseye
  • 7. City Of Angels
  • 8. Young Girl
  • 9. Hate Me
  • 10. Desperate
  • 11. I Understand
  • 12. Lordy Lordy