Search - Lunachicks :: Jerk of All Trades

She can dance! She can sing! She can do most anything!

Pamela Scarangello | Middletown, NJ USA | 11/17/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Britney fans, beware! The Lunachicks are invading your backyard! 1995's "Jerk of all Trades" is a playful yet fierce package of hyperactive alternative rock. What makes this album different from the band's two previous efforts (Babysitters on Acid and Binge & Purge) is that the sound is quite polished; like 1997's "Pretty Ugly" and 1999's "Luxury Problem," "Jerk of All Trades" displays irresistable pop anthems for high school girls. However, this album is NOT for kids. The CD's overall content is as looney as a Saturday morning cartoon yet emits the choking odors of flatulence and halitosis.
"Drop Dead" is a wild opener that can easily be blamed for America's suicide statistics; in just one song, a victim gets hit by a car, cracks his own skull, AND swallows too many pills. "Fingerful," which is accompanied by lingering drums, is about fetishism, which the group pushes to the most absurd level. What other song involves people getting aroused by smelly socks, crooked teeth, and Lucky Charms? "F.D.S" is the perfect insult track to scare away obnoxious losers. And of course, the band members assault listeners with, "great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts, mutilated monkey meat, chopped up little birdie's feet. French fried eyeballs rolling down the dirty street." Pretty gross, ain't it? Well, there's much more! "Butt Plugg" is one minute and twelve seconds worth of deranged, skull-bashing rudeness. The record's anti-beauty anthem, "Bitterness Barbie," dismembers America's iconographic doll of perfection. Where else can a Barbie doll bear clogged pores, vericose veins, and little bits of flab on her arms and legs?
Not all the tunes are made to disgust the public. "Edgar" is a crude yet playful pop single about Theo's kitty cat. "Light as a Feather" encourages lonely teens not to win popularity by playing Truth or Dare. "Insomnia" is excellent in describing any annoying night of endless tossing and turning. All the while, the lyrics are supported by a restless guitar riff. "Dogyard" is probably the least successful song on "Jerk of all Trades." The tune's rhythm ticks like an alarm clock and is mindnumbingly repetitive. The lyrics, meanwhile, appear as if the song was put on the list at the very last second. "Spoilt," which graphically discusses the horrors of war, bears an echoing chorus that's soaked in blood and acid rain. "Fallopian Rhapsody" is perhaps the most serious track of all; here, the ladies decry the tragedy of unwanted pregnancy while demanding better abortion rights.
If you are a fan who gets a kick out of shallow MTV acts (including Christina Aguilera and Mandy Moore), than "Jerk of All Trades" isn't for you. The album is REAL rock & roll from REAL women who won't ever compromise themselves. I guarantee that you'll enjoy this record whether you ride in a shopping cart, wrap yourself in toilet paper, or both!"

Lunachicks - 'Jerk Of All Trades' (Go-Kart Records)

Mike Reed | USA | 07/28/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I've always dug all-female bands like Rock Goddess,Girlschool, Babes In Toyland and Precious Metal.Lunachicks definitely keep the tradition going and on ANY given day,they could probably give L7 a good run for their money.Their pro-choice tune "Fallopian Rhapsody" just may end up being the best cut they'll ever write.The best on this fifteen track disc are "Fingerful","Dogyard",the title track and "Insomnia".I was fortunate enough to catch these babes live on tour awhile back with The Muffs and I do remember they were a FUN act to check out live."

Pure unadulterated fun for girls on a rampage

T. Lafreniere | 10/27/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"anyone with a sense of humour can appreciate this album.it's full of wholesome goodness like 'great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts mutilated monkey meat, chopped up little birdie's feet, french fried eyeballs rolling down a dirty street, and i forgot my spoon!' the lunachicks scream out lyrics that prove that women can be just as loud and obnoxious as men are and it's just as much fun. take it from a fellow jerk."