Rocktober Album #11: Diarrhea Planet – Loose Jewels (2011)

I recently purchased this album.  I'm on the email newsletter for their record label, Infinity Cat Recordings, which is home to up-and-coming duo Jeff The Brotherhood and was home to Be Your Own Pet, a now-disbanded punk band that I used to like (well, I guess I still like them, it's just that they're not around anymore).

Anywho, I read a post on the Infinity Cat website about Diarrhea Planet, and then checked out the band's website, and they seemed like a band I would be into.  The band is a sextet from Nashville, which includes FOUR guitars.  This description of the band from its website bio sealed the deal:

"Shred till you're dead, or go to hell." - Diarrhea Planet Diarrhea Planet is a six-piece rock and roll band from Nashville, TN. Their sound has often been described as The Ramones holding Van Halen hostage with an arsenal of fireworks and explosives. Diarrhea Planet's four guitarists provide enough riffs to make Jack Black squeal like a schoolgirl, while lead singer Hodan delivers enough hooks to straighten the curl out of Justin Timberlake's hair. In a world of unintelligible lo-fi recording, reverb drenched vocals, and tuneless guitars, Diarrhea Planet aims to put the backbone back into rock and roll.

So I pre-ordered their first full-length album, Loose Jewels.  It didn't disappoint.  It's 19 minutes (yes, you read that correctly) of fuzzy, frantic, lo-fi garage punk. 

And let's not overlook the name of the band.  As someone who constantly thinks of band names (albeit, with no chance of ever being in a band), Diarrhea Planet is a band name not unlike those I have previously thought up (see, for example, my list of dream bands and their proposed names).

As you might imagine, none of their songs are on Playlist.com, but here is a link to the band's MySpace page, which has several of their songs.

1.  "Intro"

The album's opening track starts off with a spoken-word sermon of sorts, exclaiming "Long live Diarrhea Planet, and long live everyone I know!"  Then, there are some Weezer-esque guitars that give you nice feel for where the album is going.

2.  "Ice Age"

This is a blistering song (as are most of the songs on the album), with some nice guitar work.  The song ends with the repeated phrase, "I don't want it to come" – presumably referring to the Ice Age.

3.  "Warm Ridin'"

They follow the Ice Age with some "Warm Ridin'."  This song isn't as fast-paced as many of the other songs on the album, but it's still a nice garage punk song.

4.  "Orange Girls"

This song reminds me of proto-punk, like maybe The Dictators.  It is catchy, raw, and has a nice call and response.  It's also about orange girls.

5.  "Your Head"

This is another frantic punk rocker.  You can't help but tap your feet to it.  It kind of reminds me of a stripped-down version of Andrew W.K.

6.  "My Dubs"

This one seems like more straight-up punk than the other songs, like it could very well fit on the stage at CBGB's in the late '70s.

7.  "Raft Nasty"

Is there any other way to raft?

8.  "Cigarettes"

This is another straightforward punk song.  "Can you give me one more cigarette?" is the mantra.  No, I can't.

9.  "Juggernaut!"

Any song with an exclamation mark should deliver on its promise of excitement, and this song does that.  It has frenetic guitars and a mile-a-minute beat, combined with some well-timed, catchy breaks.  It's just a good, fast rock song.

10.  "Teepee Toes"

This one has a nice bass line intro, before a flurry of guitars and vocals kick in.  There are some nice guitar breaks (I hesitate to call them solos).  I can't tell for sure, but it sound like the singer is repeating the line "Bitch, be mine."  If that is the case, this song is my favorite song on the album.

11.  "Fauser"

At 3:34, this is by far the longest song on the album (by over a minute).  It starts out with fuzzy guitars, then the yelling starts (I don't mean that in a bad way).  This is just a good garage rock song.