With its dark title, artwork borrowed from an old painting, and the track list spit out by a death metal song generator, Pavid Vermin (aka Glenn Robinson who is also behind the hilarious fake vinyl cover account Obscurest Vinyl) clearly is up to mischief with his new album. So, is this a departure from his pop punk roots? Yes and no — but not in the way you might expect.
This isn’t metal; it’s an upbeat pop record. Think of it as a pop punk kid’s interpretation of ’60 girl group and Northern soul, channeling the spirit of Bobby Fuller and Mitch Ryder. Brutality Is My Only Friend has been years in the making, with song titles coming first, the musical direction second, and the songs themselves last.
Robinson has outdone himself here, turning his original concept into something truly spectacular. Brutality Is My Only Friend is not just catchy as the plague and piling on the hits, it’s the funn(i)est record of the year. Not a song goes by where the lyrics do not get a smirk or a belly laugh out of me. With his sharp wit and sharper tongue, Pavid Vermin is a true bard of banter delivering tunes that delight and scandalize in equal measure. ’60s pop inspired pop punk seldom sounds this irreverent, and I’m all in, singing along to lines like: “It’s gonna feel so great, it’s gonna feel so real, when we desecrate the cathedral.”
Brutality Is My Only Friend is out now on Memorable But Not Honorable (LP) and Rum Bar Records (CD).
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