OMG!!! NEW BLOOD BROTHAZZZ!!! OMG!!!!

The Blood Brothers
"Young Machetes"
(V2/Warner Bros.)

The Blood Brothers are, in my opinion, responsible for one of the best hardcore albums in the last 10 years, "Burn Piano Island, Burn." It's as eclectic and experimental as possible, all the while staying within boundaries of aggressive punk rock. With the intentions to distance themselves from hardcore and all its machismo, the band got a little mellow with 2004's "Crimes," which took more cues from Michael Jackson than Drive Like Jehu.

The Blood Brothers' new album "Young Machetes" plays like a better follow up to "Piano Island" than "Crimes," it's still highly ambitious, highly aggressive and just a really fucking great record.

The record starts off with "Set Fire To the Face On Fire" a Locust-esque jam that finds Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie repeating "Fire" in addition to their hard-to-tell lyrics. From this point, the gloves are off. On "Spit Shine Your Black Clouds," the band chastizes radio, but not before getting in touch with their inner Billy Joel.

Like all of their previous releases, it's somewhat difficult to listen to "Young Machetes" in one sitting as 15 tracks of just really fast sqawking can get really old really fast. But I think this album is putting the band in the right direction, away from the thin, emaiciated arms of kids with awkwardly cropped haircuts and into arms of people who like good music.