Drop Out

Personnel: Cris Jerue (vocals); Bobby Ferry (guitar); Jason Corley (drums).
Audio Mixer: Jeff Forrest .
The second album by California sludge band 16 is heavier, more musically ambitious, and less indebted to Midwestern noise rock than their debut, 1993's Curves That Kick. Vocalist Cris Jerue still sounds a lot like Helmet's Page Hamilton, but the band behind him is now stretching out a little more (where songs on Curves That Kick were two to three minutes long, the tracks on Drop Out are in the four- to five-minute range) and heading more in the direction of stoner rock and metal. They're not wallowing in feedback and distortion any more, either, and a few songs, like "Sniper," feature brief interludes that could almost count as solos. Others, like "Felicia," demonstrate a subtlety and light touch that come as a surprise after the pummeling of the debut. Of course, songs like "Bloody Knuckles" and "Fucked for Life" continue to explore the existential despair that's their lyrical trademark, marrying that world-view to throbbing riffs reminiscent of Unsane or Godspeed. ~ Phil Freeman