Mousetrap

Das Damen count to four, jump in the air and slam the stage with magnetized sledgehammer guitars and honey-glazed bass & drums. They gush punk rock that would have had both Jimi Hendrix and Iggy Pop sitting together, nodding with fascinated joy.Alex Totino and Jim Walters pour frothy vats of fuzz-chop guitars and trade vocal tones that are simultaneously urgent and insistent. You won't find sweet melodies in their throats. Instead, the singing is testosteronal and ironic, and the words are beautifully vague. From the "Triskaidekaphobe" album, Alex sings: "Tomorrow knows. It keeps us in suspense. All I know is, the present sure is tense." Lyle Hysen, who now runs Bank Robber Music, beats out angry tree-trunk thuds while Dave Motamed spiders across his bass fretboard to add warm gum drops to the stew.On stage, Das Damen blast a battery of three-song canon shots, crushing the wah-pedal and soaring through the air with long-haired abandon. This is a chapter of punk rock most people haven't read. Consider this a lesson worth reviewing in your textbook. Start with "Traiskaidekaphobe" from SST records and "High Anxiety" from Sub Pop. You'll thank me.