Squirrel Bait - Skag Heaven

On their sophomore release, Skag Heaven, Squirrel Bait not only continued with the hard rockin' punk sound of their debut, but improved on it with better material and performances. Peter Searcy's speed grit vocals, David Grubbs' dirty, Van Halenesque guitar attack and Ben Daughtrey's varied and tight drumming all sound more polished here, especially on the locomotive, punk metal driven tracks "Kid Dynamite" and "Virgil's Return" as well as on the relatively straight forward thrash number "Kick The Cat." New found melodic touches appear too on "Black Light Poster Child" and the Phil Ochs' cover "Tape From California," along with tempo shifts which punctuate the dark drama of "Choose Your Poison" and "Short Straw Wins." If Squirrel Bait had not disbanded after Skag Heaven, it's hard to say if their intense sound would have continued to benefit from the expanded song writing sensibilities. Read More