Dickcheese

Love Is a Battlefield of Wounded Hearts' predecessor and sonic equivalent is more or less the same album, though perhaps even a bit more sophomoric — "Everytime I Do a Fart," "Nerds." In other words, the party jokes more often than not musically outweigh the tremendous pop-punk grandeur of tracks like "All Washed Up" and "There Was a Time," as if the album title didn't indicate that, already. But this is a playful band, as many Aussie rock bands are — AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Onyas, and Cosmic Psychos, to name a few — and they balance out their need for musical pranks with attendant seriousness about craft. With 18 tracks, this album is bound to be a thinner, less absorbing affair than others in their oeuvre, but if you can sift through the frat-house fart jokes, Dick Cheese is a real treat. Not as good as their debut, Smell My Finger, or as good as their successive releases, it's an essential steppingstone.