Freelance Liaison / Sheep and Goat Judgement

This album is like if an unstoppable force met an immovable object and they formed a band. Joe Preston temporarily upping the string count on his axe by 2 to join forces with an amazing, talented, SPEEDY metal drummer in Scott Jernigan and the number one ambassador for fuzzy bass, Mr. Jared Warren. Seems like a recipe for success, right? Well, kind of. It's also worth mentioning that this was the last release to feature Scott Jernigan before his tragic death in a boating accident in 2003, so sadly, this is the last grace we were given from such an exceptional drummer.

This record honestly sounds like KARP with more clarity. It's likely because this band is 66.6 repeating% of KARP, and the other 33.3 repeating% is a guy who liked KARP, but especially Freelance Liaison has the writing structure and simple lyrics of a traditional KARP song circa Self-Titled LP. Not to say it's a bad thing, I'm a pretty big fan of the Self-Titled LP, but it's very easy to see the echoes of Jared and Scott's former band here. It almost seems like with the compositions being less crushingly heavy, and the production having more clarity, this was almost aimed at radio play. I could definitely see that, at least with the fresh upbeat riffing of Sheep and Goat Judgement. The riffs are pretty tasty sludge, and Scott is a drumming powerhouse as always. The fills on both tracks in particular show some damn good speed and pretty decent technique of tying things together. Everyone definitely brought their best to this recording.

To say the quality is less fuzzy is.... dubious, but the production is at least raw-er and clearer than most KARP releases (which at times can sound like they're being played through a cardboard box.) The production on this is quite flat on the other hand, at least for the stringed instruments. This record is also when Jared came into the somewhat raspy, deep vocals he's known for in Big Business and his work in the Melvins, so that's nice.

One thing I do have qualms with is how the guitar and bass blend - they're both great tones, and they complement each other well, but they do it a little too well. When they're playing the same thing, you can barely tell them apart. It doesn't help that they're mixed at about the same volume, or to my ears, the bass might be just a bit louder than the guitar. KARP is guilty of this too. I believe that the bass and the guitar should be distinct from one another, distorted bass or not, and this just doesn't do that well enough. Maybe it's what they were going for, sure, but that doesn't make it a better decision. This, in my opinion, is the only thing that subtracts from the release.

I titled the review "the heaviest pop music you'll ever hear" because of the radio capability of this record, and because I think that could've been an intention. While the newer LP may be more worth the time and money, these two songs are definitely winners, and I think that it was a good way to put the foot in the door for Joe, Jared and Scott. Also, without this group we may have never had Big Business, so there's that. Go listen to this. You won't regret it.