Granted, guitarist Ron Asheton and his drumming brother Scott come across as game, and ex-Minutemen bassist Mike Watt and producer Steve Albini are ideal recruits. But while "Greedy Awful People" and the rest are overtly primitive, they never seem on the verge of implosion, as does 1969's The Stooges. Moreover, Pop's vocals, which once had to fight for their place amid the instrumental maelstrom, are out front and prominent, thereby placing too much emphasis on lyrics that smack of forced nihilism ("My idea of fun/Is killing everyone") or metaphysical dumbness ("I saw Frank Zappa eat a lonely hot dog").
Take that, rock critics.