Cows
Cunning Stunts


2.5
average

Review

by jackh21 USER (7 Reviews)
February 28th, 2023 | 15 replies


Release Date: 1992 | Tracklist

Review Summary: If only the band's songwriting ability matched its enthusiasm.

Cunning Stunts has the sonic qualities of noise rock — the distortion, production quality, and studio add-ons — but little of the musical experimentation that the rest of the genre has to offer.

The songs range from laughably bad to skippable to pretty good. Let's start with the former category. "Mr. Cancelled," with its butt-rock blues riff, should have been cancelled from the album. "The Woman Inside" has an unexciting riff in stepwise motion, and the song can't be salvaged by vocals sung in French. "Down Below" is as simple and dull as "Three Blind Mice."

When Cows compose a decent riff, they tend to ruin it by repeating it over and over or confining it to a verse-chorus structure. The sludgy riff on "Ort" is repeated for 4:22 straight. There's a nice descending guitar line on "Midnight Cowboy," accompanied by sturdy if predictable harmonies, but once you've heard the first 45 seconds, you've basically heard the whole song.

The better the riffs, the longer you can tolerate them. The chromatic riff on "Heave Ho" doesn't wear out its welcome, and neither do the toe-tapping blues licks on "Walks Alone."

Finally, Cows manage to put it all together on two standout songs. "Contamination" contrasts a dramatic, waltz-time interlude with a speedy main section in common time. The bass doubles the vocals on "Terrifique" while the guitar squawks out a solid riff on top. It's a unique arrangement.

The mix tries to mask the inconsistent performance and songcraft. The guitar distortion obscures many licks and fills that might have been poorly played or half baked. And in the second half of the album, the record starts and stops for a few beats in places. I assume that's an attempt to keep the listener alert and engaged, which the music often fails to do.

Cows play with a lot of enthusiasm, and the songs are in a variety of keys, earning them a half-point bonus.



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user ratings (124)
3.9
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
Mort.
February 28th 2023


26160 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

disagree a lot with this review, but heave ho, its still terrifique





quite like two little pigs







DadKungFu
Staff Reviewer
February 28th 2023


5509 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Some valid criticisms imo, this sits somewhere in the B tier of noise rock for me, Heave Ho and Contamination rule

mryrtmrnfoxxxy
May 10th 2023


16726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Ort could be twice as long! thats a song I could put on repeat for a while tbh. and and and The Woman Inside is maybe my favorite song here. glad you could get into Heave Ho at least

mryrtmrnfoxxxy
September 10th 2023


16726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Contamination slowing down those couple times is the coolest shit

widowslaugh123
September 10th 2023


4233 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Haven’t heard this one in a few years need to rejam but good review

Spec
January 6th 2024


40323 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

This really does rule. Foxxy was right.

mryrtmrnfoxxxy
January 10th 2024


16726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

hell yeah! whole discog does

SomeCallMeTim
February 21st 2024


4650 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

album starting with a child getting slapped is unsettling to say the least

mryrtmrnfoxxxy
February 21st 2024


16726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

baby born gets slapped. do they not do that anymore?

Demon of the Fall
April 30th 2024


35907 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

lol, really wish I'd read about the skips beforehand, got trolled hard for a minute there. I was pretty sure they were by design as it sounded like discs skipping (on digital!) but then when they introduced a couple of moments where it cut out completely, I thought my connection was taking a shit or something



This was definitely a solid punk / noise rock album, but I wish it was bit looser / more unhinged / weirder etc. I anticipate some of their other material may hit harder

DadKungFu
Staff Reviewer
April 30th 2024


5509 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Feels like the two tracks I mentioned above are A-tier songs on an otherwise B-tier album yeah

mryrtmrnfoxxxy
May 1st 2024


16726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

my 6th favorite Cows. still rules tho. check Daddy Has a Tail

Demon of the Fall
May 3rd 2024


35907 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

The second half kinda sucks



More is butt rock (this is not a good thing)



A couple of decent cuts early and a cool harmonica solo is the highlight

mryrtmrnfoxxxy
May 3rd 2024


16726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

did you mean to post that here? what's More?

Demon of the Fall
May 4th 2024


35907 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

I meant Mine but it’ll do because I NEED MORE



still checking in with Daddy when I can



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