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COOTERFINGER / Smells Like Rock 'n' Roll By Milo Ippolito Anybody can play rock music. But when you call your sound 'Rock n Roll' you better deliver the stuff. A rock n roll band gotta twang -- like them good ol' Southern boys, the Rolling Stones. A rock n roll band gotta be smart enough to play dumb, like the Ramones. A rock n roll band gotta know who Johnny Thunders was. ... Cooterfinger plays rock n roll. ... Smells like Rock n Roll is the latest album by lo-fi trashabilly home taper James Richard Oliver, who wrote all the songs and plays all the instruments. The new 'band' name, Cooterfinger, is sure to attract new fans and impress the ladies (are you sure about this, James?) ... Oliver is most lyrically inventive on opener 'Anita is my girlfriend.' The way he drawls it, you can't tell if he's saying Anita or 'I need a ...' on lines like 'Anita smoke, need a drink, need a pee.' He gets funky on 'Piss n Moan,' a bit of Southern swamp stomp with lines like 'Tryin' to keep up with the Jones. Drinking like George while Tammy's gone.' (Note to stoners: George and Tammy were like the Tommy Lee and Pamela of the Grand Ole Opry.) 'My Karma's Gonna Find You' is equal parts country and punk without sounding like a forced 'cowpunk' hybrid. The natural ease with which Oliver blends these two folk forms shows how similar they really are and how much he respects them both. 'You broke my heart, now I'm killing my liver, spitting out blood and pissin' a river.' That line could have been written by Hank Sr. or Lee Ving (from Fear). 'It's Rock n Roll' is the closest I've ever heard James come to Raw Power-era Iggy, and 'It's all over but the cryin'' is pure 60s garage band riff rock along the lines of the Seeds. ... If you are a big fan of the Cramps and Jason and the Scorchers, you can't go wrong with this album. Mike Ness fans should dig it, too. (Oh yeah, and guys who dig songs about drinking, crying and peeing will love Smells like Rock n Roll.)
