Brains: The Monster Within

Canadian rockabilly schlocksters Brains are out to have a wicked good time on their debut full-length The Monster Within, and for a while they succeed. Melding together a hyperkinetic rhythm section with jangling guitar lines and song titles like “Bleed”, “Kill Kill”, “Rest in Pieces” and “Suffering and Pain”, the trio spew forth the sonic equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino movie — an over-the-top exercise in garish excess that manages to be intermittently entertaining.

With 14 tracks under three minutes a pop, the band adheres to a hit-and-run approach that serves them well with such tunes as album opener “The Monster Within”, the twang-tastic “Misery”, and the surfing-in-hell instrumental “Cucaracha in Leather”. As with many one-note bands, though, the joke wears thin well before the end of the album, and listeners are apt to stert feeling like the record is something of an endurance test. Still, for fans of deeply reverbed guitars, cheerfully macabre lyrics and drums that go really, really fast, there’s much here to chew on —mmm! — and savor, drop by scarlet drop.