ADZ TRANSMISSIONS FROM PLANET SPEEDBALL

Welcome to the third CD from ADZ. In some ways it's what you have come to expect from this band of South Cali punk vets--a collection of fast, rippin', hard-assed punk tunes loaded with the razor-edged guitar work and group vocalizing long associated with the Orange County punk style in general and the Adolescents in particular. ADZ descend from Adolescents, with Tony Reflex (once known as Tony Adolescent) helming the group with his one-of-a-kind brand of throat shred, Their previous album for Amsterdamned was the acclaimed Piperat the Gates of Downey, and their debut was Where Were You?, released on Lethal.

While there's no shortage of the expected punk slammage, Transmissions From Planet Speedball is a very different kind of punk album. For starters, all of the songs sequentially tell a tale of a descent into addiction, and the subsequent crawl back to reality. This is not, however, anything as pretentious as a rock opera, there is no central character per se. Also, the story begins at the end ("After the Storm"), and tells the preceding saga much like a movie flashback. Musically, there are a few sidesteps as well. Alongside the patented hardcore of "Creature of Habit" and "Whores for Gloria" and the catchy popcore of "The Neck" and "Bobcut and a Lunchbox" you'll find ADZ hangin' ten with "Surfin' Planet Speedball," exploring tribal beats with "Sugar," displaying their best Machine Gun Etiquette with "Buddha Sixteen," and dropping acid with Syd Barrett on their cover of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam." The entire album is segued together with found sounds and music/dialog interludes, never allowing for even a moment of silence, making it, as best we can figure, the first 'punk megamix'. If all of this weren't enough, the bonus track which follows the Speedball program is a loop/sample driven cover of Bob Seger's "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" done in the rock hip-hop style. Yes, in his own way, Reflex raps.