The Candy Snatchers

"This is rock and roll!" howls Candy Snatchers frontman Larry May, as breakneck pop-punk fury rumbles behind him, spraying rudimentary rhythms, ultra-distorted guitar riffs, and copious mouthfuls of Pabst Blue Ribbon all over the place. Anyone with a hangover, a Ramones record, a cheap guitar, and a garage can realize this sort of glory, and that's precisely the point for these boys. Born in 1993 with a single on (potential Trivial Pursuit answer ahead) Sounds Like Shit Records, the Snatchers have steadily pounded out a dirt-simple punk ethos on multiple records/singles for multiple labels, currently splitting a CD with like-minded buddies the Cheap Dates. Result: 10 maniacally energetic tunes, only one of which sneaks past the two-minute mark. That tune, incidentally, is named "Ass Casserole."

This sort of thing can be played for laughs or testosterone-charged menace; the Snatchers seem split on which approach to take. In any event, there ain't no holdin' back. The band's semi-official website, fandangorecs.com/candy ("endorsed by the band themselves, so fuck off"), prominently displays a photo of a severely bloodied Larry May -- mid-performance, of course. In past excursions to Ohio, May has limped onstage with a broken leg, which did not stop him from flailing about and whipping around the chair he had originally intended to sit on. Rock and roll does strange things to people.