The Summary Judgment Reviews:
Title: Spit Blood
Artist: The Atomic Bitchwax
Label: Meteor City
Release Date: 4/2/02

Rating: 5 Skulls
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    • Reviewed by Redwolff (8/29/02):
    I was playing this album at work the other day when one of my co-workers, a jazz guitarist, stuck his head in my door and said, "Is that Jimi Hendrix?" I was not at all surprised by the question as I had had the same thought-- parts of Spit Blood are really like listening to some lost Hendrix tracks. The Bitchwax has managed to capture his sound, and the general vibe of that era of music, perfectly. However, this does mean what you might think it means: Spit Blood is much less stoner metal than the last one, and much more hard rock. The fuzzy quality of the guitars and bass is toned down, the singing is cleaner and stronger... but this is fine with me because in my opinion the band sounds more mature and tighter on this album. They are really growing into their sound and it becomes them. Spit Blood sounds like a showcase for excellent musical abilities rather than an experimental side project trying to differentiate itself from Monster Magnet.

    The first song both made me laugh and also made perfect sense: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." It's such a great, classic song, and AB does it proud, but it's so funny that they decided to put a cover song as the first track of the album. It's almost as though the band is trying to tell you where they are coming from and what to expect on the rest of the disc.

    NOW HERE'S THE IRONIC PART. Pretty much everything I just said is bullshit, because out of the six tracks following "Dirty Deeds," one is an alternate version of a song off of II, their last album, two were recorded originally in 1996, one is an experimental track recorded in bits and pieces, separately, in the band members' homes and then later mixed together, and only two songs are brand new for this album.

    So now what am I to think? Surprisingly, with that kind of variation, the album flows very well, but it's impossible to know if it truly reflects the band's current state or mindset. Ah well, I'm a little confused by that, but this is a review of the album itself, and I have to conclude it's their best so far. I immediately liked it, felt at home with it, enjoyed listening to it over and over. Whether the next one comes out totally differently remains to be heard.
    5 out of 5

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