Reviews

If there was one trend in metal that was over almost before it began, it was the late 80s surge of 'funk metal'. With bands like Infectious Grooves and Living Colour leading the way it was only a matter of time before someone melded thrash, and that is where Scatterbrain came into the picture. Rising from the ashes of Ludichrist the band appeared on the scene with an explosion with the songs 'Don't Call Me Dude' and 'Down With The Ship (Slight Return)' released as singles, but they soon disappeared just as quickly once the novelty of joke songs and men playing guitars in chicken suits got tired. The album opens OK with the groovy title track 'Here Comes Trouble', and although the lyrics are a little on the nose it proves itself to be a reasonable opener. The vocals are like an imitation of Faith No More's Mike Patton, no doubt an inspiration. Cheech & Chong's classic 'Earache My Eye' is next, and it suits the feel of the album heard so far quite well. It even features the first of many horn breaks. 'That's That' really hits the funk hard and with its gang vocals could be straight off a Red Hot Chilli Peppers album of the era. Although the songs are performed well, they are all rather vanilla, with nothing really jumping out as better than average. 'I'm With Stupid' slashes the speakers with a razor blade, and if a decent amount of distortion was added the band's thrash roots could easily be revived. This only lasts about a minute though until we are back into funk mode and the song voids any of its charm. 'Down With The Ship (Slight Return)', although it was the second single released, is what the audience is here to hear. Containing samples of dozens of popular rock and metals songs, with everyone from Metallica, Aerosmith, Van Helen, and Led Zeppelin represented, the song is a great listen. If you step back for a moment and stop trying to name the samples and just listen to song you soon discover it is another hollow entity, created to carry the samples and not much else. 'Mozart's Sonata #3', although clearly placed here to be quirky, actually reveals itself to be a standout track. The musicianship is top notch and flashy, and it is fun listen, sounding like the lost soundtrack to a Bill & Ted mall chase. The songs of the second half breeze past as uninspired as the first, with 'Mr. Johnson And The Juice Crew' (take a guess at the subject of that one) and 'Goodbye Freedom, Hello Mom' zooming by. 'Outta Time', although it suffers from some tempo change fatigue, actually has some pretty good riffs and potentially is the only track that could survive out of the time it was created in. Maybe the song name wasn't just a fluke, but a premonition? 'Don't Call Me Dude' is up next, the joke song that put the band on the map. It starts like a 50s doo-wop, before going metal, but with a great lead riff and some pretty heavy guitar work it actually still holds up OK - cheesy lyrics and all. The one minute finale, arguably the greatest song on the album, is the mournful 'Drunken Milkman'. In 1990 no metalhead on the planet couldn't recite the lyrics word for word. It isn't that the song is good - quite the opposite. It is that it is so over the top that it becomes a quotable classic. A joke song or even two on an album isn't necessarily a bad thing, and bands like Anthrax have proven it can be done well. The problem with Here Comes Trouble is there is just too much - and it is at the cost of quality song writing. Even if you were a fan of the funk metal style, nothing here has enough substance to last more than a couple of listens. Scatterbrain carried on for another album after this one in 1991, and even squeezed the dollars from the record company for an E.P. in 1994 (which took itself a little more seriously), but really everything they did after this album was just more of the same. It is debatable whether they would even have been noticed at all without those couple of singles, but then again that could said of a lot of well-known bands that have lasted longer than Scatterbrain ever did.

Oh boy, this album hasn't aged very well at all. The production is terrible, but putting that aside it's a really fun album, kicking off the 90's and the continuing rise of thrash music. The self-titled starts off the listen and gives you a good insight to what this band is about to present the listener with. Some quality thrash music with questionable/humorous music. I say quality I guess to the extent it won't land anywhere near the thrash gods of the time, but is a serviceable effort that is catchy. I like Earache My Eye, with the playback between the lead singer and the remainder of the band with the lyrics. Clearly the band made its name from some classic songs that hit the mainstream. Including 'I'm With Stupid', which is a laughable parody of a man who has two heads. The lyrics are very imaginative leading to a catchy song. 'Down With The Ship' does a great job of sampling some classic riffs from other bands. 'Mr Johnson And The Juice Crew' is again quirky but a catchy song to sing along to. And then we come to the final 2 songs on the album which are probably their best. 'Don't Call Me Dude' which is a great story, along with 'Drunken Milkman'. You will notice that the focus is mostly on the lyrics from each song that make you want to laugh or sing along. It's almost like the music is secondary, which well might be the case. Not much happened for the band from here. I did buy their next album, but it was nowhere the same. In any case they deserve the recognition they got in the early 1990's.