It made sense that
Snatches of Pink would regroup in the wake of
the White Stripes, since this North Carolina trio essayed a similar brand of bluesy guitar raunch in the '80s, when that sort of thing was distinctly unfashionable. However, like their first comeback attempt, 2003's Hyena,
Stag suffers from the same problem as the band's earlier albums: they're grungy, and they're noisy, and they're rocking, but they're not actually particularly good. Singer/guitarist
Michael Rank is the only holdover from the original lineup (probably best known for being Sara Romweber's post-
Let's Active band), filled out with a number of anonymous riff rockers who seem to be going for some kind of cross between solo
Johnny Thunders and '70s
Rolling Stones, but end up sounding more like a
Led Zeppelin cover band toward the end of a keg party. While that could potentially be entertaining,
Rank's songs are as generic and lyrically uninspired as the titles listed in the cover art (which have nothing to do with the songs themselves) are impenetrably pretentious, and his anonymous voice has little inherent personality. Time for the next breakup, it seems. ~ Stewart Mason