White Doves and Smoking Guns

Album Review

Passion slashes through every track of the A.K.A.s' full-length debut. The fury of their message perfectly matches the intensity of their music. Whether excoriating the "empty souls" of impassive Gen X'ers on "Generation Vexed" or the hawkish conformity of former peaceniks on "Every Great Western," they pull no punches and play no favorites. Their world is urban, decadent, and decayed, where fashion models, sedated by "champagne, fast cars, and caviar," complain about being bored while, outside, outlaws "paint the streets with fire." Their anger boils from the visceral into dangerous theoretical territory; unlike practically any band since the MC5, these guys have no problem working words like "bourgeoisie" into their polemics. All this erupts from within an explosion of tight, aggressive rhythm, but the key to the A.K.A. sound is Nina Aron's vintage Farfisa organ. Its atmospheric whine, reminiscent of Blondie and early Elvis Costello, snakes through snarling guitar and thundering drums like a trickle of memory, white-hot and inescapable, in a desert of complacency. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk, All Music Guide