Review Summary: Urine-flavored lollipop.
“The grindcore vets unleash pulverizing hardcore and post-punk,” is what Apple Music describes this album as. That is the totality of the introduction I got to this dumpster fire of an album. So after it went from bad, to worse, to even worse, I realized the poor description was probably because whoever wrote that copy for Apple Music couldn’t say anything else due to their brain cells being pulverized into a pulp.
Let’s dissect the title:
The Good Ship Lollipop. “The” is obviously an article indicating a specific object. “Good” would imply something of positive nature, beneficial, something that brings about happiness. It could not possibly be referring to this album, because this album isn’t good. Not sure why the word “Ship” is being used here. Does it mean a ship that sails? Perhaps it refers to a shipping company. Either way, both things move objects in directions. It still doesn’t really make sense but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Now “Lollipop” is an interesting one because there is even a lollipop with a grotesque face on the cover of this album. Does it make sense? Sort of, because the “grindcore,” “hardcore,” and “post-punk” in this have about as much substance as a lollipop.
As unpleasant as a wet fart in a hot, crowded room, this album begins and ends with just about no redeeming quality of any kind. There are noises that sound like instruments, which actually
could work for a grindcore album, but these “grindcore vets” aren’t doing anything that even remotely resembles grindcore, so instead it just sounds like terrible production. The vocals hover somewhere between intolerable and mortifying. There are attempts at guitar solos that sound like cheap rip-offs of actual guitar solos and couldn’t sound further out of place.
Look, all joking aside, this album should be avoided. I could make more quips about the lollipop being poisoned or another fart joke (because who doesn’t love those), but in all honesty Venomous Concept was not an exceptional grindcore band to begin with and they certainly don’t do “hardcore” or “post-punk” much better. It would probably be a better endeavor for them to go back to grindcore. Actually, on second thought, no. They shouldn’t.
