Kidneys

Kidneys (2007)

Brian Shultz

Admittedly, I'd probably rather listen to Kidneys than most of the dozen or so projects Brooks Wackerman has been involved in, but their debut is still a mediocre, awkward pop-punk effort.

Wackerman is best known for his drumming presence in Bad Religion, where he keeps the forbidden beat alive -- when the band employ it, of course. However, he's played in an awful lot of bands, seven in the 21st century alone. So maybe that's why Kidneys was conceived by Wackerman in 2003, but took over four years to release a proper album. Though the record actually gives off a mild `90s punked-up Lemonheads vibe occasionally, Kidneys is often more in line with one of the bands Wackerman was in for a spell: the Vandals, but with the same quality circa their output in the 2000s.

There's this clearly carefree, fairly absurd mood that permeates the album and just doesn't gel with the creepy artwork. But even then, it doesn't prevent songs like "The Engine," "On with the New" and "Apathy" from sounding incredibly tired and mopey. I guess you could describe the former and latter as power-pop, but there's really little to no power behind them.

Opener "Christian Cheerleading" and "Problematic" have a little more energy, but Wackerman's distorted vocal delivery wears out quickly and the spacey guitar effects (see also "The Engine") seem forced. He even almost sounds like he's running out of breath during one verse in "Problematic," but it's not like he was all that aggressive prior.

Props to Wackerman for putting nearly this entire album together himself, from vocals to instruments to songwriting to production to artwork. However, a flat execution proves that for the numerous projects he devotes his time to, he might be spreading himself thin.

STREAM
Fissury
Apathy