Starjob

The Frogs were always on the top of the list of bands that shouldn't have a major-label record contract, but once their friends James Iha and D'Arcy of the Smashing Pumpkins established the Mercury subsidiary Scratchie, it was perhaps inevitable that the willfully bizarre Milwaukee duo would sign to the label. As a response to their new-found status, the Frogs conceived their major debut EP Starjob as a loose concept album about a fallen modern rock star — a.k.a. "Lord Grunge." Over the course of five songs, Lord Grunge rockets out of the underground to the height of fame, and then he crashes just as spectacularly, not unlike a certain Kurt Cobain, who was a huge Frogs fan. Since this is the Frogs, Starjob is always offensive, filled with disgusting and insensitive lyrics that will undoubtedly be hilarious to the group's small, dedicated cult, but it's certainly not for the faint-hearted. And even with a little more production gloss than usual, the Frogs sound as bizarre as ever, alternating amateurish punk rockers with folky ruminations, all sung in a disturbingly thin, keening voice. In other words, Starjob is business as usual.