Comments for THE LOW BUDGETS, GO FOR BROKE

www.lowbudgets.com - band www.akhenation.com - label Go For Broke, put out jointly by Akhenation Musio and Schuylkill Records, is the band’s third release. Two 7" records preceded it. Go Bargain Hunting With The... was released in 2001 and Buy One Get One Free both came out in 2002. The new album continues the theme put forward in the 7"s, namely live cheap, live drunk, and have fun. Although it’s tough to translate their sound out of the dirty basements they normally call home, the band managed to do a good job in the studio; if you close your eyes and take a sip of Hurricane, it’s like you’re almost there. The first track of the album is "Rip Off", a little ditty about lead singer Chris Peelout’s habit of, you guessed it, getting ripped off by The Man in the form of taxes, meter maids, and the like. That leads into the next track, "El Hombre de la Noche", which is, interestingly, an instrumental song, the first of three on the album. While the sound on Go For Broke is by no means cluttered, it is nice to hear the rest of the band come through so distinctly. Along with managing most of the vocals, Peelout also plays lead guitar. Dandrew plays bass, Steve pounds the drums, and Joe is in charge of the organ and backup vocals. If I tried to point out the highlights of the album I’d probably end up talking about each and every track. To spare you of that, I’ll instead go through a couple of the songs that tend to stick in my head and keep me from the latest pop radio tune that Clear Channel would rather have me humming. First off, there’s "OE In The A.M.", a perfect little song about everybody’s favorite 40 oz. breakfast food, malt liquor. How can you not want to sing along to lyrics like "It’s nutrish/It’s delish/Start your day with the Old English"? The CD’s final track, "Born Before The Internet", is about both the collective old age of the members and how they can’t be held down by the young whippersnappers all around them. And when you consider that Joe used to be in The Dead Milkmen, a band that was formed all the way back in 1983, you know the song title is by no means a misnomer. Overall, I am pretty impressed by this album. The cover art, featuring tattoo-style drawings, is a bit cheesy, but that’s no big deal. It’s just nice that after two and a half years of listening to the band, I am finally be able to listen to them without having to turn the record over every two tracks. Taken from (drexel University) http://entertainment.thetriangle.org/2003/03/07/lowbudgets.html

OE in the AM is now my lifestyle,

THE LOW BUDGETS - Go For Boke CD (Akhenation / Schuylkill) When this record began I really liked it - a lot. But in later parts of the disc, I was put off. Let me begin with an introduction - The Low Budgets are from Philadelphia and have members of The Dead Milkmen and The Town Managers, very little of either do I hear, but that is neither good or bad. Now, why did I like it so much? I've been listening to the Nuggets compilations for the last few months, and I've been jonesin' for a little more psychedelia. "Ripped Off", "El Hombre de la Noche", "OE in the AM" are great garage rock-n-roll songs, and the keyboards add this great late 60s psychedelic feel that makes many of the songs on this disc standouts. The recording isn't the greatest, but after hearing so much of the bad recordings of The Sonics, Chocolate Watchband and The Blues Project, I'm used to it. Those were all from 1968 - Low B, it's 2003. At times this launches into pop-punk anthems, which aren't bad, and remind me of The Rentals. For those songs, I would have definitely wanted a better sound recording. Now, why was I put off? I was left saddened at the attempts at, or insertions of, ska or reggae (ie - "Poseur Punk", "Crappy Family"). Overall this isn't a bad release, but those few moments can really kill it for me. (Feb 28, 2003)