I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House - Put Here To Bleed

When you think of music originating in Portland, Oregon, what comes to mind? M. Ward? Chutes Too Narrow? Everclear perhaps? So do I. Well, I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House defies expectations. I hope the band’s name didn’t mislead you. The lyrics, “I plan to spend the apocalypse drunk and passed out on the floor…that’s why I do the things I do – I live so god-damned hard” in the first track of Put Here to Bleed pretty much sets the tone for the entire album. No playful indie-pop here. Rather Put Here to Bleed is rebel rousing, bar-brawling, government hating, southern rock. And it’s not very good. By southern rock I mean dirty vocals, double-time rhythm guitar, heavy guitar leads, and ferocious harp wailing. In fact, “In The Mud” is a Southern tale about a “granddaddy” born in Oklahoma and a “daddy” from Kentucky complete with banjos and a washboard to sell the drama. If you ever find yourself stranded in a Southern biker bar with drunk patrons who just discovered President Bush banned tattoos and chewing tobacco, this is the CD to play. Keep it in your glove compartment just in case. The lyrics are, however, mildly entertaining. The question, “if you can’t eat it or fuck it well lord than how can it exist” is posed in the song “Hayward, CA ’76.” While I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House asks, “Enron and Dick Cheney would you please use vasoline when you bust my tail?” in the song “Things That Fail.” But my favorite lyric might just be “cause I’m a rockstar, I’m a rockstar, watch me go taking my grammy home.” Not Likely. [www.icanlickanysob.com]