On the Outside

Who's that pissing on your leg? Oh, it's Denton, TX. First, the town splattered listeners with the Riverboat Gamblers, particularly their raucous Gearhead Records debut. But in 2004 it's the Marked Men, who after an eponymous effort for Rip Off have leaped to Dirt Nap and dropped On the Outside. It's not the white lightning body ache of the Gamblers (whose shouter Mike Weibe guests here) — unlike those crazies, you can actually understand what vocalists/guitarists Jeff Burke and Mark Ryan (ex-Reds) are saying. But Outside is rollickingly revivalist in its own right, pulsing on a tensile crossbreed of the Ramones and Undertones, like longhaired guys in leather dressing up as the Jam. "On the Outside," "Don't Lose It," and "Broken Record" all pop with interlocking vocal hooks over frantically wiry guitars — there are no slow jams here, but then a crowded dancefloor doing the frug is no place for slow pokes, anyway. "No Time" is the Marked Men's official Ramones entry, while "Right Here With You" manages to be melodic and stinging at the same time. Outside ends strong — clocking in under 30 minutes — with a trio of songs as strong as the opening, "Cool Devices," "4,000 Times" (check those backing vocals!), and "Master Wicked." It's a strong entry into the thriving garage punk demolition derby, where the Marked Men join types like the Fleshies and Briefs, gassed up with drunken shoutalong potential and bashing their big land yachts into music with no brakes.