Guttermouth- Covered with Ants

This is Guttermouth's sixth studio album. It was released in 2001, two years after Gorgeous.

Lyrically, the album is mainly tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, which is used as a vehicle for either immature frat-boy jokes or insightful social commentaries. This means that looking past the... ahem raw vocal and musical style, there is  occasionally a surprisingly intelligent contention being discussed. However, to add to the list of misheard lyrics, only now have I discovered that
I need a new direction,
like a positive regression
is, in fact, not
I needed an erection,
like a positive regression
Whoops! But, in my defence, the 2nd version is completely plausible for Guttermouth lyrics (eg purile and non sequitur)!

Stylistically, the album covers quite a bit of ground within the confines of punk-rock: headbanging (That's Life, What You Like About Me), moshpit frenzies (Can I Borrow Some Ambition, I Won't See You in the Pit), catchy pop-punk (Secure Horizons, She's Got the Look) and sea-shanty influences similar to Dropkick Murphy's (I'm Destroying the World, Chug-a-lug Night). Away from the moshpit, the moshput frenzies don't translate into very enjoyable CD tracks, but this is just a couple of songs scattered amongst the tracklist, so it isn't a problem.

As far as recording quality goes, the vocals are quite grating, but this is par for the course with punk-rock. At times, the guitars and snare sound strangely muffled, but otherwise the sound conveys both power and crispness in a polished pop-rock style.

That's Life works well as an opening track; a quick number to set the scene for the album without "wasting" a great song as the listener is warming up. The final track, Cram it Up Your Ass brings together the motif scattered between various tracks throughout the album. It seems to be a parody of concept album wank (*cough* Star Turtle *cough*), which you will either find an amusing pisstake, or just plain annoying.

As someone who doesn't own any other Guttermouth albums, I tend to prefer the more pop-punk songs on the album. She's Got the Look is very catchy and, like Josie by Blink-182, a beatifully emotional skate-punk love song. Also, the commentaries on consumer-driven society (Secure Horizons), society's enforced vanity for females (Looking Good is All That Matters) and redneck cultural values (I'm Destroying the World) are personal highlights. In many ways, it's like the Violent Femmes: arty/queer outsiders making a point using rock music (which ironically gets embraced by the meathead quarterbacks they're singing about). Quite intellectual, once you strip off the immature frat-boy packaging...

Favourite songs

Can I Borrow Some Ambition, Secure Horizons, She's Got the Look, I'm Destroying the World, Chug-a-lug Night, What You Like About Me, I Won't See You in the Pit

Worthwhile?

Yep. Often raw and nasty, but there is real substance below the surface.