PE SKEWER is a Brazilian one man punk band and this is one of two EP's I got to review. There's something strange going on with the title track that opens this EP. It's very badly played (the drums are the only relatively tight thing) with sloppy guitar work and sung in nearly incomprehensible English. The lyric sheet doesn't make it any clearer either. I think he wants to say something about communism (the cover features portraits of Mao and Lenin floating above a graveyard) but I'm not sure what. Anyway, having said that the song itself is really good.

Sloppily played with garbled vocals yes, but catchy as hell. Since this is punk we can say it has a kind of 'low-budget charm' but unfortunately I can't be as kind for the rest of the EP. The second track is a live take that's really too badly recorded to be enjoyable. The cover of the TALKING HEADS' "Psycho Killer" only serves to remind us how great the original is. And on the last two tracks the sloppy playing really gets a bit too much, even for punk. Still, the record gets some sympathy points because everything about it looks so goddamn DIY. The lyric sheet in particular with its frayed ends is a nice touch. So, since it seems the guy quite literally did everything himself, the title track is good and what the hell, I'm in a generous mood today: three out of five points. Of course since this is 'punk' I assume this won't cost shit.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/peskewer

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