When it comes time to give out the award for most appropriate album title
of 2000, look no further than Portland, Oregon's Fireballs of Freedom.


When I last heard the Fireballs of Freedom, they had just put out an album
on Empty Records and reminded me quite a bit of the Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion. Two years later, the band has returned and gives rock-n-roll a
kick in the ass that Jon Spencer never could.


"Total Fucking Blowout" opens with "Don't Take My Freedom" which greets
the listener with blaring guitars and screeched vocals in only the finest
MC5/Stooges-derived rock-n-roll tradition.


I don't know which Fireballer is delivering the vocals on this disc, but I
hope it's the one with curly hair -- I can picture him swinging the mic
stand around and stomping around stage, kicking and punching his fist in
the air when appropriate. None of the rest of the band has the frontman
image down correctly, so I hope I guessed right.


Anyway -- you, dear reader, probably care little for my theories on who
the frontman for this band is, so I will continue to describe the rock.


It is Rock -- don't forget the capital R. Guitars blaze, drums pound, bass
gets rumbling, and the vocals, my dear God, the vocals! As I mentioned
before, the vocals on this album destroy. The vocals are soulful,
gut-wrenching and FIERCE. Oops, I don't know how caps lock got on, but I
kind of like that.


For fans of rock-n-roll -- Fireballs of Freedom deliver. This total
fucking blowout is up there with the newest Murder City Devils album for
the best rock album of the year.