About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

From the album title and the band members' heavy metal drag on the cover, all appearances would seem to betray that silliness reigns on Full Metal Overdrive, but Buckwild's second album is a stylistic leap from the band's first album, Beat Me Silly, still chock full of post-pop-punk aggression but delving with much more maturity and with more interesting deviations into the 'post' part of that amalgam. Full Metal Overdrive, instead of heavy metal, dives headlong into emo on songs such as "Empty Bottles" and "K.T.'s Dream," with more emotionally charged vocals that are tuneful just as often as they are shrieked and a more varied sound assault that retains a punky brevity and bite but, nevertheless, is only partly bite. The rest of the time, Buckwild constructs dense soundcapes with surprising textural intricacy, not the least of which is the ukelele led "What To Do," which in a different era could have been a Lovin' Spoonful hit, but which, in 1999, gives way to a full on wall of guitars that is not exactly subtle. But in this context, it is subtle and intriguing because it is so unexpected, and pulled off with such a nonchalant panache that is the obvious evidence of a band stretching out and simply having a good time doing so. All of this is not to say that Buckwild have tossed out their template. They have not. There is still plenty of tight pop-punk in evidence-loud, fast, grinding guitars, unhinged drumming, and sardonicism-but it rarely comes off as snotty this time around, and occasionally touches on a deeper vulnerability that the first album never approached. The album is touched by a sincere emotional honesty and nostalgic sadness. When Steve Dewey, on "Goodland, The," sings "Two o'clock/Empty streets/Hide from the cops 'cause we're smoking weed" it comes off as genuinely affecting rather than silly or punk, as if the band is reaching out for meaning, and the same yearning quality passes over to the listener. Every band should mature between two albums as well as Buckwild has to reach the accomplishment of Full Metal Overdrive. Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide

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