Considering this band is dwelling in the same left field that was been occupied by the Minutemen, you'd think I'd enjoy Victim's Family more. The band adds as many screwballs to their musical attack as the legendary boys from San Pedro, but unfortunately the music never quite makes it over the plate for a strike. That is not to say Victim's Family is unable to pull off the occasional good song. Out of the twenty two songs here, there are a handful that are quite good, but you also are required to dig through the trash. My biggest gripe is Ralf Spight's thin, shrieking voice that sounds like he caught his hand in a blender. "La la...yipe!" Needless to say he is detrimental at times to the melody. On a musician's scale, all three members are good at what they do, particularly bassist Larry Boothroyd. But again, the band often has the problem of great talent on a technical level but keep forgetting to allow songwriting to play a part. I imagine early Victim's Family might be of interest to indiscriminate Nomeansno fans or other musicians, but in general, this is just a difficult ballgame.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 08/1999

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