Revenge of the Flying Luttenbachers

Revenge of the Flying Lutterbachers is the first Flying Luttenbachers full-length to feature the lineup of guitarist Chuck Falzone and bassist Bill Pisarri along with founding member/drummer Weasel Walter. This is also the closest the band has come to making a straight "rock" record, largely a result of the instrumentation and the relatively song-centered material; there is some improvisation, just not as much as on most of their other releases. The key elements here are Falzone's stinging, dissonant no wave guitar and Walter's spastic bulldozer drumming, the latter showing a death metal/grindcore influence during some of its faster moments. (The riffs in "Murder Machine Muzak" also have a death metal flavor.) The sound is abrasive and top-heavy, due to Falzone's trebly guitar tone and the fact that Pisarri doesn't so much play basslines as use his instrument as a noise-generating device. This sound suits the songs well, which, ranging from the stop-start fits of "Spasms" to the Captain Beefheart-like jaggedness of "Thoughts for Americans," provide a constant jolt to the system. Typical of the Luttenbachers' work, Revenge doesn't let up in terms of its aggression or tension; however, its material and the playing are more focused than on some of the band's other releases, helping make this one of their strongest overall recordings.