So on a dull southwestern night you wander over to the Col Ballroom to check out tonight's band. You've never heard of 'em before, but sometimes that can be a good thing. A burly, balding dude with a ponytail takes a couple of bucks from you and hands you a makeshift cardboard ticket. You move through the dark hallway towards the main ballroom, the air heavy with the smell of cigarette smoke and cheap beer. As you push through the door to the main ballroom, the muffled rumble gives way to a rock-solid wall of beefy Gibson riffage that you can feel in your chest. The lights are focused on three long-haired, freaky looking dudes up on the stage, set against the tacky, gold curtains of the ballroom's far wall. The smoke in the room has taken on a much...er...sweeter and stronger smell. Looking around, you notice that there aren't really that many folks here tonight, but the few that are present stand motionless, like sheep witnessing this awesome display of BUDGIE-like greatness.

Honestly, it doesn't get much rawer, tighter, or more rockin' than the lords of obscure, heavy acid rock, TRUTH AND JANEY. Practically every song is a ragged, over-the-top study in rumble-rock loftiness. Just watching Bill Janey pull off intense, bloozy solos like the one in "Birth of the Heart" is worth the price of admission. Wow! This CD is an inferno of great jamming, excellent musicianship, and tons of attitude. File next to CACTUS' "One Way or Another" and BLOODROCK's "III". You know you need this. It's hard to believe stuff like this was still bubbling and churning down in the dirty south the same year as the first RAMONES album came out. This is real rock 'n roll damnation, people.

- Marchman

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