Die Hunns - You Rot Me

DIE HUNNS
You Rot Me
(Volcom)
U.S. Bombs singer Duane Peters is a hero in the punk/skateboard underground, which means it’s the perfect time to confound expectations. You Rot Me, the second album with his “other” band Die Hunns, turns down the punk fury of his previous work and cranks up the melody, achieving a roots-informed sound analogous to Social Distortion, the Lazy Cowgirls or even Johnny Thunders. Tunes like “Ain’t It a Shame” and “On My Mind” (both sung by Peters’ paramour Corey Parks) even enter ballad territory, though of a particularly unsentimental hue. This isn’t to say the band’s trademark bad attitude doesn’t saturate every note&check the lyrics to “Die For Me,” “47th St.” (“You’re human waste!” Peters declares) and the title track. Plus, Peters’ hard-living rasp still takes fewer prisoners than an invading zombie horde. The shift from balls-out punk rock to a more measured rock & roll style may put off punk diehards, but the articulate songwriting and soulful sounds more than make up for the loss of inchoate disgust, at least for the rest of us. Michael Toland