The Kiss Offs

It’s a clue that a band kicks ass when explosions are involved, but it’s an absolute certainty when said explosions are unplanned. In a freak accident well documented on the lunch-break staple Real TV, one of The Kiss Offs’ amps burst into flames because of the band’s intense riffage during a hometown concert in Austin, Texas. A few kind souls made the ultimate sacrifice, extinguishing the fire by emptying their beers into the blaze. The Kiss Offs’ Rock Bottom sounds just like that beer-soaked show must have, ugly and loose. It’s garage noise at its most gloriously trashy, filled with rock for rock’s sake and tunes about “Pleather Pantz.” The Kiss Offs’ “Mmm Mmm Mmm” beats the tar out of that wimpy Crash Test Dummies number, and Katey Jones’ flirty vocals and rinky-dink keyboards are the stuff of which instant rock and roll crushes are made. Rock Bottom captures the group’s incendiary live show so well that listeners might want to keep a fire extinguisher, or at least a six-pack, within arm’s reach of the stereo.