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Land Shark

Land Shark

(Om; US: 12 Sep 2006; UK: 18 Sep 2006)

Dallas’s Lance DeSardi’s debut album as Land Shark is a throwback to the days when Al Jourgensen had a sense of humor and you waited eagerly to hear just what industrial-techno shenanigans Chicago’s Wax Trax! label was going to put out next. Too sharp and progressive-sounding to be called retro, DeSardi’s songs are nonetheless built on dancefloor rhythms, analog synthesizer squelches, distorted guitars, and gritty, hell-bent vocals. “If you’re so damn nasty then step into my world”, sings DeSardi on the almost illegally funky electro jam “Tie Me Up”, and it sums up how Land Shark is gutter-dwelling in the best sense. Released in partnership with New York’s Coco Machete label, Land Shark is probably the most edgy record yet to bear the Om stamp. It’s far from deep, but just funky and fun enough to avoid the novelty tag—not unlike the immortal SNL skit Land Shark takes its name from.

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John Bergstrom has been writing various reviews and features for PopMatters since 2004. He has been a music fanatic at least since he and a couple friends put together The Rock Group Dictionary in third grade (although he now admits that giving Pat Benatar the title of "first good female rocker" was probably a mistake). He has done freelance writing for Trouser Pressonline, Milwaukee's Shepherd Express, and the late Milk magazine and website. He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife and two kids, both of whom are very good dancers.


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