Revolting Cocks- Cocked and Loaded

Artist: Revolting Cocks
CD Title: Cocked And Loaded
Label: 13th Planet Records
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 6/3/06

Ministry's Al Jourgenson is back with another Revolting Cocks album, and while some old friends are conspicuously missing, he's brought some new faces into the fold. Most notable of these is punk rock god Jello Biafra, who performs on "Dead End Streets" and delivers one of his trademark anti-consumerist rants on "Viagra Culture." While it's true that these sound less like classic RevCo songs and more like Lard, that's nothing to sniff at, especially since it's been nearly ten years since Jourgenson and Biafra have blessed us with a full-length Lard release. As far as the rest of the album goes, it's still the dirty industrial rock you'd expect from a Cocks record, with Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and Phildo Owen of the Skatenigs sharing most of the vocal duties. Things have gotten a bit more rock 'n' roll since the early days, and the sexual innuendo is a lot more straightforward, as on "Pole Grinder," an ode to strippers, and "Prune Tang," a paean to sex with elderly women. Most intriguing, though, is "Caliente," a re-worked cover of the classic Bauhaus song "Dark Entries." Closing things out is "Revolting Cock Au Lait," an extended montage incorporating parodies of everything from Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall," not to mention an explicit spoken word piece from sex writer and plus-sized burlesque dancer Lady Monster that recalls the "Who's Your Favorite Cock" piece at the end of Linger Ficken' Good album. Without Chris Connelly, this doesn't have quite the same impact as the Cocks did in their heyday, but there's plenty of dirty, gritty Texas-style industrial rock, and it's good to see the boys back together again.

Visit Ministry's website at www.ministrymusic.com for the latest RevCo news.