Released:
1998, Way Cool Records, WCR/009

Website:
Scabby Annie

Here are some thoughts about Scabby Annie and their two CDs.

I don't know if Jody and the guys in Scabby Annie will appreciate this exactly, but I think of Scabby Annie's music as fun punk. Punk is supposed to be the sort of pure rock that insists on your attention, and Scabby Annie's two CDs contain plenty of sneer, swagger, and snarl, without being obnoxious punk.

"Fun punk" is complimentary and doesn't mean punk music that has been muzaked, made safe, and rendered genital-less. It doesn't mean that their music is not threatening, but means instead they are not music hall fluff. This is straight-ahead rock. I enjoy bopping through their music on CD -- a live Scabby Annie show must be packed with energy. I enjoy a catchy melody, and think of the Scabs' music as melodic punk. After listening to one of Scabby Annie's CDs, try not to repeat the refrain in your mind from songs such as 'Potato Head', 'Hanging Out with Dave', 'Miss Appleby' (nice sprays of electric fuzz), 'Stand By Me' (a punk classic as far as I'm concerned), and others from their first album, or 'Monkey Minded Man', 'Terrarium', and 'Book on Mars' (catchy lyrics) from their second one. If I ever saw them live I know I'd leave with their songs buzzing in my head, and start the next day with one of their songs in my head.

Their first CD has a less complicated sound than that of their second CD, but then they were a trio on that first one and a quartet on the second. According to their web page they are back to a trio. Still with Jody at the mike and the Scabs sound, I'm sure. Overall, good and upbeat stuff to put in when hanging out, with or without Dave.

Oh, and don't be in too much of a hurry to stop the discs after the last listed tracks....

Kurt Shoemaker, SA Rock Digest #58, May 2000

All info supplied by John Samson, August 2002