Originally written by C.J Alcock · 19 September 2005
Reuben
Very Fast Very Dangerous
Label: Xtramile Release Date: 19/09/2005
Damn! This record's broken, and certainly not in the Roy Castle
sense. It just keeps repeating itself. Distorted drop-D
chugga-chugga riff, dude yelling about alcohol in a sub _'Design for
Life_ manner, dude shouting about his mother...
Damn! My mistake! How stupid do I look? It's actually just a really
one dimensional record by unambitious post-grunge three piece Reuben.
Gone are their early days, those halcyon times of constant tippings as
"next medium-sized thing", days of dumb, catchy, heartfelt crunch-pop
wundertunes like 'Scared of the Police' and 'Let's Stop Hanging Out'
and in its place is this. It's certainly dumb and crunchy,
occasionally catchy and arguably heartfelt, but, and this is a big
but, it's just not nearly as good. Of the 13 tracks here (at 50 minutes, it's hardly "Very Fast" and the
only "Danger" is of frustrated boredom), ten are near indistinguishable
Helmet rip-offs (the band admit as much in the lyrics to _'Return of
the Jedi'_), two are low rent Foo Fighting ballads and one is the
narrow-mindedly-titled _'Every time a Teenager Listens to Drum & Bass a
Rockstar Dies'_, a failed attempt at broadening the album's horizons
with a drum machine.
Of the up-tempo numbers, current single 'Keep it to Yourself' is
sweet like (Mud)honey and shows that they aren't all that bad, as do a
few other nifty riffs and the string coda to _'Nobody Loves You Like I
Do'_. In fact, they're still fun live - wheeling out the oldies for a
little nostalgic pogo - but their entertainment value is mainly thanks to
frontman Jamie Lenman's immense affability, a charm almost entirely
lacking from this record.
When 'Return of the Jedi' complains about
having to quit the band and get a real job, given this album's
workmanlike nature, you'd be hard-pressed to see a difference.
• 4 C.J Alcock's Score