BATHTUB SHITTER - Xmas
These guys are getting better with every release. If the late Hunter S. Thompson can claim to have invented gonzo journalism, then these mad Japanese scatomaniacs have certainly invented the gonzo grind genre. In the past they combined their love for poop with metaphors on social commentaries, but this time it's Christmas time.
Xmas starts with Brown Santa, giving the expression "a cappella" a whole new meaning. High castrato shrieks meet deep funny growls and show that you can make music without instruments or melody. A fantastically crazy intro. Holy Shit is the only regular original composition, showing Bathtub Shitter from a more mature side (except for the lyrics, of course). Frenetic grind'd'roll, infused with insane guitar solos, is carried by the typical high/low vocals, and a keyboard adds laid back moments, just to be overturned by rocking grind rock. If Led Zeppelin had been Napalm Death, this is the way they would have sounded. Apart from the infectiously high amount of humour, this is also a song that uses it two hundred seconds running time to deliver many different parts and elements at the audience. The CD ends, too early, with an unbelievable rendition of the Xmas classic Little Drummer Boy, an evergreen many pop and rock bands have already tried to cover, but none have done it as successfully as Bathtub Shitter. The silly melody is deconstructed into a drony doom song with evil death metal vocals that, no matter how hard they try, end up sounding silly again. But then Christmas is a time for joy on Earth, and Bathtub Shitter do everything necessary to make it work out.
In the past I have made parallels to a harder Bomb Disneyland, and that comparison is still valid. The vocals sound like cartoon figures on speed, the instrumentation is solid and has a feeling for fun, whereas the three songs assembled on this cute 3"-CD-EP show the band from its different angles. The cover artwork of a beardless Santa Claus in front of an Xmas tree and an exploding toilet has me laughing even days after I have seen it. This will certainly soon be collector's item, is unparalleled not only in its genre, but in all of music as we know it. This ideal Christmas present has me dealing a maximum rating!