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 THE
BAGS- Mount Rockmore (Oaf
Records) What do you do after you win tons of local and national
acclaim in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s? If you’re in the Bags, you
split up suddenly and take a 12-year break. Then you come back with a new
disc in 2004 (Sharpen Your Sticks)
and now, in the Year of Our Lord 2007, you rocket launch a bunch of your
latest shit into the fan and heartily spray us with Mount Rockmore. I have to admit that I was a slight bit confused
after first listen. It seemed like this had to be a total Spinal Tap
tribute, but the songs actually rock more genuinely than I’d expect from
something that’s at times so silly. But tracks like “Tick Panic,”
“Saddle Up Your Ass,” and “That’s Right (He Died),” which is
definitely one of my favorites on this CD, rip along so nicely that they
come across as much more than just shtick, and this makes them much more
fun (and funny) than your standard novelty song. The Bags could’ve
easily fallen into the aging Allston Rock Scenester stereotype at this
point in their existence, but instead they knock the fuckin’ teeth out
of this image before it has time to settle in. These muthafuckas still got
chops, and it makes me elated that this disc has absolutely no chance of
being mistaken for Shit Sandwich.
–Ben Hunter
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