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Cover Art The Frogs
Starjob
[Scratchie/Mercury]
Rating: 8.6

These guys have offensive lyrics down to an artform, which, on Starjob, is fun for like a minute. Earlier releases have revealed more fun with scary lyrics than this EP demonstrates. What makes Starjob work, though, is that every single track is served up with unforgettable music that will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life.

"Raped" is probably the best serving-up of shock value on the record with lyrics so sinfully wrong you can hardly believe it. ("Everyone's making a big deal over the fact / That I raped someone / What's the crime? / I had fun.") And that's pretty sane compared to what one can only imagine was recorded during their as- yet- unreleased Racially Yours sessions. What you might not imagine about "Raped," is that it's backed by a strumming acoustic so memorable, you will take it with you to the grave.

These songs, while they're lyrically less entertaining than older Frogwork, throw out some of the best music of the year. Whether you're digging "Lord Grunge," "I Only Play for Money" or the brilliant "Stargirl," you can count on getting happy. And, hey, produced by Johnny Goat (aka Billy Corgan). Can't go wrong.

-Ryan Schreiber

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RATING KEY
10.0: Indispensable, classic
9.5-9.9: Spectacular
9.0-9.4: Amazing
8.5-8.9: Exceptional; will likely rank among writer's top ten albums of the year
8.0-8.4: Very good
7.5-7.9: Above average; enjoyable
7.0-7.4: Not brilliant, but nice enough
6.0-6.9: Has its moments, but isn't strong
5.0-5.9: Mediocre; not good, but not awful
4.0-4.9: Just below average; bad outweighs good by just a little bit
3.0-3.9: Definitely below average, but a few redeeming qualities
2.0-2.9: Heard worse, but still pretty bad
1.0-1.9: Awful; not a single pleasant track
0.0-0.9: Breaks new ground for terrible
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