Despite the hysterical cries of the mainstream music press to the contrary, the 1990s have been peppered by good, old-fashioned guitar rock. Bands following the path hewn by the Pixies in the '80s seem to emerge from Frank Black's ever fertile (and ever growing) womb almost weekly. Even with the demise of Dinosaur Jr, bands like Superchunk continue to explore new horizons in the three-minute thrasher.

Although they aspire to that lofty goal, Aftertax is not one of those bands. Sure, all the necessary players are there-- the rumbling guitars, rattling basslines and the well-beaten drum kit-- but during the 30+ minute span of Exit Stage Frank, these boys fail to distinguish themselves in any manner whatsoever. Purveying what can best be described as banal, they really only manage to register with the listener twice on the EP. Fittingly, one such epiphany requires a credit elsewhere-- the coda of "Kids" is ripped off from Public Enemy's "911 is a Joke," and it doesn't get much better from there. The band's jamming on "Dinner for a Week," which recalls Bob Weir's worst self-indulgent failings with the Dead, provides Exit Stage Frank's other noteworthy moment.

Sadly, the music industry tends to nurse its holiday hangover for longer than the average music fan, and although there isn't much material out there, Pitchfork Editor Ryan Schreiber still demands 5,000 words a week from us. I'm sorry, Ryan. I just can't do it. I tried my best. But that's more than I can say for Aftertax.

-Neil Lieberman