Weeklies

Artist: "The Misfits "
Album: "Static Age"
Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Caroline

Reviewer: Duanewolff
Posted: 10/20/2010

Review: You can't get into Halloween season without a shout to the boys of blood, the grandfathers of horrorcore / horror punk, The Misfits. In 1978 when Static Age was recorded, the band consisted of Jerry Only (bass), Franche Coma (guitars), Mr. Jim (drums) and this weightlifter guy, Danskin, Dank Room or something, maybe he sang a song or two as well, I can't say for sure. Just kidding... it's Glenn Danzig, of course. Let's take a look at what I think are some of the standout tracks on the album.

With 'Last Caress', the lyrics are filled with cheery scenes like puppies, large anthropomorphic mice, flowe... nevermind, sorry, another Disney marathon. Our friendly neighborhood horror icons scare up a new level of "fucked in the head" by conjuring images of dead infants, raped mothers and Danzig sounding almost convincing as an evil guy. Yeah, I know, nowadays it's almost passé talking about such subject matter, but when I was your age (I really just said that, didn't I?) that was really shocking lyrical content. It's still a great punk rock song, but over the years some of the lyrical luster has been lost for me. Only and Coma work well together in the fast 4/4 time signature through most of the song (then again, what punk song isn't in 4/4?), married to Mr. Jims' steady timekeeping. The song's musical components are flavored with The Ramones and Black Sabbath interlaced between Danzig's psychopathic ranting.

The next tune on the disc, 'She', has a flavor of ye olde horror film soundtrack nostalgia mixed with Glenn's characteristic vocal talents. The lyrics speak of a rich girl loving getting involved in some criminal behavior all while getting some lovin', wicked style. The rumor surrounding this track is that the song's lyrics tell the story of Patti Hearst, which makes perfect sense after a few listens. Jerry Only, Mr. Jim and Coma are, musically, just as tight on this song as ever. The chords are brooding and have a threat of malevolent treatment from our ambassadors of badassery. All in all, a pleasant listen for quilting groups, sewing circles and neighborhood massacres.

The next track up is 'Teenagers from Mars', an odd track to say the least. Danzig's performance on this cut was most commanding, due to the fact that he IS an alien. His lyrics talk about landing amongst the brush in fields within the great state of Arizona. The music was, in my case, reminiscent of a bad X-Files episode (if there was one), memorable but for all the wrong reasons. Mr. Jim switched it up and added kick drum theatrics along with the standard 2 and 4 on the snare. Franche, Jerry and even Glenn gelled well melodically, but it still reminded me of when I was learning to play guitar with a band: uncomfortable, strained and generally not a pleasant experience.

So that's my take on "Static Age" by The Misfits. Anybody else here a fan of the band and this album?

Overall rating: WholeWholeWhole
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)

Reader Comments

Came with the frame.
Oct 21st, 2010, 01:27 PM
I love the old Misfits stuff. The song "Hybrid Moments" from this album has to be my all time favorite song from them. "Theme For A Jackal" would be a great song to listen to in a haunted house.
Teenager from Mars
Oct 21st, 2010, 08:40 PM
I'm a huge Misfits fan, and I've even come to appreciate the garbage Jerry Only churned out recently. This is my second favorite Misfits album, behind 12 Hits from Hell. It's a shame this album took so long to get a real release, and the bigger shame is that 12 Hits was never given a proper release.
Came with the frame.
Oct 21st, 2010, 09:58 PM
Never heard of "12 Hits From Hell". The newer stuff with conservative rocker Michael Graves is good too, just different, hah. More metal less punk...which isn't a bad thing.
Member
Oct 22nd, 2010, 09:25 AM
Famous Monsters is my favorite, but there are a lot of the original ineup's songs that I love. Namely "She". That one rules!
Smooth Operator
Oct 23rd, 2010, 10:55 PM
Play, theme for a Jackal, play.
Forum Virgin
Oct 25th, 2010, 05:51 PM
Definitely the most cohesive and enjoyable of the original Misfits albums. It captures the the creepy fun of 50's horror/sci-fi vibe perfectly, as opposed to the later albums where Danzig was just trying too hard to be truly demonic. "Some Kinda Love" and "Hybrid Moments" are the stand-out tracks for me, but I've always thought "Come Back" had such a great vibe to it. I can just imagine a Ghoulish Dance Party where Morticia Addams and Lily Munster cut loose with Vampira on the dance floor!
The Goddamned Batman
Oct 25th, 2010, 06:12 PM
Great album. I would have given this one 3 and a half myself.
skank pronger
Oct 25th, 2010, 10:18 PM
My favorite Misfits album. Hybrid Moments always makes it into my Halloween mixes.
pickled
Oct 26th, 2010, 12:35 AM
I love this album, but why did you only review 3 out of the 19 songs?