Huntington Beach, California's GutterMOUTH are gearing up to release MUSICAL MONKEY July 15 on
Nitro Records. After recently wrapping up Canadian club dates with Suicide Machines, the band--MARK
"MERCURY" ADKINS (vocals), DEREK DAVIS (guitar), CAPT. JAMES T. NUNN (drums), MR. SCOTT
SHELDON (guitar), STEVER RAPP (bass)--are set to take their sardonic Orange County punk rock to
Australia July 25 for three weeks of dates.
MUSICAL MONKEY marks GutterMOUTH's fourth album overall and follow-up to Teri Yakimoto, of which
Rocks Off noted: "Teri Yakimoto is packed full of fast, fuck-shit-up punk rock. From the first song to
almost the last, it leaves you either laughing or smiling. Humorous songs, fast melodies with snotty vocals
all rolled into one." Slug chimed in: "Their latest piece of speed punk is just what is needed to smack the
bumps and ride the powder, even with boarding season long gone!" GutterMOUTH's songs may be
offensive to some--the band pokes fun at everyone including punkers, metalheads, politicians,
vegetarians, religious fanatics, groupies, jocks, journalists and mothers--but their satirical outlook comes
from real life experiences.
"There are a lot of idiots out there, so it's easy to have a topic to write about," says Mark, who notes their
songs are open to interpretation: "That's what makes it fun. Everybody takes it a little differently."
Humor is definitely a key element in GutterMOUTH's fast-paced OC punk rock--their influences include
The Vandals, the Angry Samoans, the Adolescents, the Germs, Black Flag--as is apparent in their lyrics
and song titles. "What If?" is a hypothetical story about the B-52's Fred Schneider replacing Jim Morrison
in The Doors, while "Baker's Dozen" takes a jab at the trendiness of the punk rock culture: "Oh my
God/I'm so confused/I want to go punk/But there are way too many rules/Pardon me/Mr. Punker/I'm
looking for some insight/On the core that's right for me...I wanna be unusual/I wanna be punk rock." Other
songs include "Lucky The Donkey" (about a mother caught up in the notorious Mexican
beastiality/prostitution scene), "Big Pink Dress," "Corpse Rotting In Hell" (a heavy metal parody), "Perfect
World" (celebrating anarchy) and "S.D.F.B." (referring to groupies--you figure it out!).
"If you've never seen GutterMOUTH, then you're not punk," proclaims Punk Rock High Zine in a live
review of the band, while BAM noted: "GutterMOUTH can be both astonishingly noisy--feedback,
distortion and outright dissonance all competing with their lyrical cacophony--yet at the same time, there
is always such a strong sense of melody and structure in their little two-minute ditties that you'll probably
want to just rant and rave right along."
GutterMOUTH are no strangers to the road, as they've toured with The Offspring (Dexter Holland signed
band to his Nitro Records), Descendents, NOFX, face to face, Pennywise and appeared on last year's
Warped Tour. The band recently wrapped up a U.S. trek with the Descendents where they encountered
a few near riots. As is often the case with punk rock shows, club owners and promoters are not always
prepared for the intense live show and crowd interaction. The band were even asked to leave one venue
in the Midwest before the Descendents went on. As MARK explains, "They [club owner/promoter] didn't
like what we were doing. They don't understand what's going on. They're used to a real safe, sedate
show and they get us!"
