Crunchy, spiraling power rock is the name of the game for
Challenger on their fiery debut
Give People What They Want in Lethal Doses. Drawing from SST greats
Hüsker Dü and the
Minutemen, this careening, unstoppable trio blasts through ten punchy punk tunes layered with vocal harmonies and lightning guitar riffs. There's always some detail that elevates these songs from simple genre staples to downright great rock tunes -- the uplifting, anthemic break on "Input the Output" (like something off of New Day Rising), the slick and pseudo-poetic
Candy Apple Grey-styled shout along of "Death Museum," or the crackly spoken vocals at the center of "This Is Only a Test" (which sounds like something
Black Flag would have used on
In My Head).
Give People What They Want is both visceral and sensitive, exhilarating and somber, and is one of the first truly inspiring punk records of 2004. ~ Charles Spano