''Dragstrip Riot'' is an album by the American band

the Flesh Eaters The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins ...

, released in 1991. It was their first studio album since 1983's ''A Hard Road to Follow''. They supported the album with a North American tour. Lyrics to "Dragstrip Riot" appear in Bruce Harris Craven's novel ''Fast Sofa'', published in 1993. The Flesh Eaters recorded a new song to promote the book, which was included with ''Fast Sofa'' as a flexi-disc. "The Youngest Profession" was rerecorded for 2018's ''I Used to Be Pretty''.

Production

The album was made with a new lineup of the band, with Chris D. the only longtime member. It contains covers of the

Flamin' Groovies Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic ('' Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage He ...

' "Slow Death" and Mott the Hoople's "Moon Upstairs". The title track stretches to almost 10 minutes.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' concluded that the new band "proves potent enough to keep pace without clinging to their leader’s tornado-swept coattails, whether the context is quietly malicious delta blues ('The Youngest Profession'), Alice Cooper-via-Jim Thompson power-metal ('Sugarhead and Panther Breath') or stripped-down docudrama (the ten-minute title track), not to mention a handful of territory-defining covers." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the new Flesh Eaters "a more tempered band with a blues and garage-rock sound that sometimes echoes such punk precursors as the Stooges, Television and the Patti Smith Group... Formerly a ranter and raver, Chris D. now can sing when he wants to." The ''

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tucson, Arizona, and owned by Lee Enterprises. It serves Tucson and surrounding districts of Southern Arizona in the United States. History 1877–1925 L. C. Hughes was the ...

'' wrote that "lead screamer Chris D. has reassembled his semi-legendary L.A. punk band, rediscovered the blues and now occasionally forgoes his trademark from-the-crypt wail to actually sing his lyrics, a combination of beat poetry, pulp fiction and B-movie themes." ''

CMJ New Music Report CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'' thought that guitarist Wayne James's "every move is a new extension of ''L.A.M.F.''/Link Wray squint-eyed grace; his guitar/co-writing skills are within the bounds of both old Flesh Eaters style and stereotype bad-ass rocker blare."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

determined: "Overlong, but after over a decade they're in great shape." ''

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'' thought that the album "saw the band crashing out riotous swamp rock of a virulent, Cramps-type character."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control The Flesh Eaters albums 1991 albums SST Records albums