Filthy Jim

Weezer’s self-leaked Maladroit notwithstanding, Filthy Jim might have the already-heard-it new release of the year. Copies of the Lawrence-based quartet’s bratty debut, Whiskey and Porn, have been circulating in local music circles for months, but the effort remained officially unreleased until recently. Having secured a deal through Dallas indie label Tour Horse Records, Filthy Jim might finally receive its critical and commercial due. Equal parts Slip It In-era Black Flag and Mötley Crüe circa Too Fast for Love, Whiskey roars out of the gate with a rocket ride titled “Sleeper,” followed immediately by the even more furious “Hooker.” The album’s tone locked firmly in place, the band burns through ten more tracks of igneous rock with scuzzy-as-it-wants-to-be bluster. Most of the material clocks in around two minutes — only “Gnat” breaches the three-minute line — and virtually all tempos race into the red zone. Lyrically, Filthy Jim dots numbers such as “Cunt” and “Fallen Angel” with knowing tales of sex, drugs and … more sex and drugs. As for the music, it’s all about the guitars, with ax-grinders Steve Hammond and Seth Cole putting a Sasquatch-sized foot in the ass of every wimpy emo band that ever dared to pluck an arpeggio.