Rabbit Junk- Rabbit Junk

Written by Matthew Johnson

ARTIST: Rabbit Junk
ALBUM: Rabbit Junk
LABEL: Full Effect Records
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 3-17-08

Rabbit Junk- Self-titled album

This remastered reissue of Rabbit Junk's self-titled full-length gives a whole new set of fans the chance to experience one of the coldwave scene's most promising debuts. Like other coldwave artists, Rabbit Junk creator JP Anderson incorporates elements of metal, punk, and electronic music, but this album takes things in a completely different direction, or more accurately, a number of different directions all at once. With their bursts of aggressive guitars and raw-edged vocals, "Washout" and "Punkass" are probably the easiest tracks to begin with for fans of "traditional" coldwave, but even those betray their eclecticism with funky breakbeat builds and hip-hop scratches, including samples from an old NWA favorite that rap fans will be sure to recognize right away. "I Vote Bolshevik Lite" is Rabbit Junk at their most anthemic, at least in a punk sort of way, with politically charged lyrics, frantic beats, and sampled crowd cheers, while "Orange Laces" goes from drum 'n' bass rhythms and perky synthesizers to an explosion of screams and distortion, with the shouts of backing vocalist Sum Grrl sure to garner plenty of comparisons to Atari Teenage Riot. Believe it or not, there's even a hint of ska popping up in places, as on a cover of The Police's "Walking on the Moon" that moves from a somewhat faithful Jamaican reggae groove into catchy punk territory, than slows down into a rhythm you could easily skank to, complete with vocals drenched in reverb and digital delay. That's Rabbit Junk in a nutshell, moving seamlessly from influences that shouldn't make any sense together, usually without any warning, and somehow making it sound like the easiest thing in the world. If you haven't already heard of this act, this is your chance to start from the beginning. Buy it, listen to it, learn it; in a perfect future, this is what all music will sound like.

Don't take my word for it; visit www.rabbitjunk.com for sound clips and tour information.