Sell Out by Halfcocked

Sell Out

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Sell Out

Features

Audio CD (June 19, 2001)

Original Release Date: 1999

Number of Discs: 1

Label: Curve of the Earth

Reader Reviews
With thunderous drums, tense, raw guitar and bass sounds, and hardly any dubbed harmonies, this 1999 independent effort reveals how the members of Halfcocked began attracting crowds before being signed to a major label. In a way, all of the CD's tracks perfectly capture the transition between a live performance and a sonic studio recording. Although I personally don't like "Sell Out" as much as the more polished "Last Star" album, "Sell Out" is a decent CD on its own because of its rough underground quality. Compared to "The Last Star," its 1999 predecessor reminds me of a painting without color, or better yet, a bare skeleton without any muscles or skin added on to it; substance reduced to its bare essentials. In addition, "Sell Out" contains musical elements similar to those of 2001's "Last Star" LP. "Thanks for the Ride," for example, was rerecorded in the album I previously mentioned, while "Missing's" melodic rhythms are nearly equivalent to the ones on the "Gun for Hire" song. Perhaps my most favorite track is "Superstar," where frontwoman Sarah Reitkopp's lyrics target the shallow throne of MTV pop stars, and with NO apologies, either. Sarah, by the way, sings just as well as any pop star on MTV, for her complex lyrics are often about young adult angst, broken relationships and even drug use. Halfcocked the band is fused together in a well-oiled rock 'n roll machine; they are able to play their instruments in such a way that the music is pretty much a slice of hard rock with pop sensibility. It disappoints me that this talented group hasn't been given as much attention as the Donnas or Kittie. What I can say in the end is that "Sell Out" is definitely worth the money, for the CD marks Halfcocked taking its first steps towards the future.

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