I challenge SG to name my debut album!

Well, she passed me, anyway. Just kidding! Mom's a little Bible-y, prolly never heard of a PC Muscle, so it wouldn't make much of a difference, BUT they don't exactly get the punk scene at church, so no.

Thrashing around your living room to a great record is worth the inevitable neck sprain. However, these days I find that I definitely waste too much Tylenol on pitiful wannabes. Convincing listeners to pay attention to “Too Late For That,” the freshman release by San Francisco’s Victim Nation, may be tough. There’s a glut of sub-par punk bands out there and some might want to lump this band in with the anger-management menu most neo-punkers subscribe to. This 13 track collection moves, and moves fast. But VN is different – more akin to The Dead Kennedy’s and The Damned rather than the plethora of one-dimensional bands currently being favored.

Primary singer/song-writer Clint Woods rigs the album with many a trap door, dropping you into unexpected places. His strong vox, catchy melodies and vivid lyrics are displayed through-out. On “Sour” he psychotically pleads for attention “…I just may have forgotten to take my medicine… Got one scar on each wrist / For every day you've been away.” In “Good Years” he ironically snaps “They'll play this song at my funeral / I hope I live that long”. But he’s not a screamer – it is with a cynical confidence he forges through each song.

Two guitar punk bands tend to be more about “my-part-is-faster-than-yours” than about dynamics. The distinctly different styles of Clint and lead guitarist Shane Traceski avoid all of that machoistic bickering. Clint’s solid cadences allow ShaneT. to slither in and out of songs, sonically gliding through each track, whilst not making you feel like you’ve just tripped boarding a bus. Adding another dimension to his punk-rock sensibilities are occasional, subtle, eastern-influenced drones, as found on the tracks “Al-Dente” and “Time To Go.” Being a guitar player myself, I get very critical of guitar leads. I find most of them tedious—why insert a “break” in a 3 minute song? ShaneT. is obviously aware of this and mints his parts to add to Clint’s melodies without losing the spontaneity that makes his playing captivating. He also never overplays.

Drummer Matt Gramly further trenches into this solid punk record. He’s very difficult to “air-drum” to since he avoids the obvious fills lesser drummers exploit. The Minutemen’s Hurley would definitely be proud. Together with Dianne Bate’s solid bass playing, the two allow Clint’s vocals & Shane’s guitars freedom to roam without meandering, while providing a shelter to their storm.

Occasionally a few tunes reach the edge of getting away from the band but luckily they never quite fall off. The mix could be tweaked to add a bit more bass & guitar and a little less drums, as the strings often get drowned out. Also leaving the masterfully measured “Sweet Sacrifice” until 10 songs in may inadvertently cause a few folks to think they’ve heard it all—but patience pays off. A depth far beyond today’s typical fare exists in “Too Late For That” and it’s well worth the listen.

Oh yeah and don’t forget to call your masseuse.