The Mono Men “Skin & Tonic” 1994. Estrus Records (Mono Men guitarist/vocalist Dave Crider founded Estrus). Butt-shaking, sexy garage punk with a more than a hint of grunge (they’re from Washington State, recording in the late 80’s/early 90’s so that sound is basically inevitable). Crashing drums, hard-rocking fuzzy and distorted guitar licks and metal-tinged solos, growling and sneering vocals but so much more fun than the sometimes-dreary grunge vibe. My top tracks include the slinky, beaty opener “Mystery Girl” plus the almost-as-sexy “Slammer” and “Skin & Bones,” as well as the hot-rod racing rocker “Waste O’Time” and psychobilly’d “Monster.” I’m less fond of the songs that go more straight-up grunge like “Afterglow” but it’s still all really good.

The liner notes, written by Betsy Burger, are hilariously over-the-top: “…an album so shocking, so revealing, that the mere mention of its song titles has institutionalized several prudish critics; an album so sensually raw in mood and content that it has been banned in 27 countries [ed. note – not true]; an album so lurid and suggestive that it has turned mild-mannered teenaged virgins into carnivorous sex kittens! This album, the product of creativity on a steady diet of burlesque and tiparillos [ed. note – maybe?], was years in the making [ed. note – not that many years – The Mono Men’s release before Skin & Tonic, Wrecker, came out in ’92].”