Scissorfight - Potential New Agent for Unconventional Warfare

Anxiety of influence (check your philosophic literary criticism) is a powerful agent that often times works more against new bands and their music than it does against books or movies. Many bands try quite hard to build a new house on their predecessors' foundations, only to fail in the eyes of critics, which can sometimes lead to dismissal with otherwise unbiased listeners. No need to dismiss Scissorfight's Potential New Agent for Unconvential Warfare, as it's pretty rocking, as far as 5-song EPs go. Who are Scissorfight? According to their press release, "...classic rock for the modern Age of Aquarius. Like hanging out with Dennis Hopper on six hits of Orange Sunshine, you're either in all the way or not at all." Huh. Like Bush's "You're either with us (against terrorism) or against us (for terrorism)," eh? I don't like ultimatums, but I understand the urgency of this statement- In concern with politics, not music. Also, according to press release, everything Scissorfight do has "deeper meaning" and the listener is "demanded to figure it out." Um, okay... So thus far I've figured that Mudhoney is the foundation you're building your house on and that, while rocking yet not rollicking, talented but not brimming with gusto, you have the same "grr" appeal as Monster Magnet- Did I get it right? I kind of hope so, because Scissorfight are very easy to listen to and actually quite good- They are indeed a potential new agent for rock. Elaborate I shall: "Maritime Disasters," the third and by far the best song on the EP, has Bull God-ish intensity backed by squirrely guitar. "I am a lighthouse/ Oil lanterns swinging/ You're never gaining/ I'm raidiating" is the confident chorus that spirals out with the guitars. Quelle cock, if I may say so myself. While pushing against convention in terms of lyrics, the music is what really matters in this band. Ironlung (vocals) uses metaphors that parallel Geezum H. Crow's wall-scaling guitar, which intersects Jarvis' bass thwacking, which therefore throttles Kevin J. Strongbow's drum assault. The band works, it gels, but it's missing that certain something that only becomes apparent by multiple listens. The fifth song on the EP, "Harvester", announces "It works for me/ That I can't deny", and that's the summation of the parts of the album. Loud and guitar-y, Scissorfight is solid and tight, but there's a chink in the wall somewhere... Maybe that's what I have yet to have been "demand[ed] to figure out." [www.scissorfight.com]