The Applicators

Austin's Applicators establish some scrappy, punk revivalist, real estate on What's Your Excuse, their debut for Cornerstone. Gritty to a fault and shameless in their toughness, the quartet chops up riffs (circa 1978), and stacks the resulting pile on a powder keg of riot grrrl fury. Of course, the Applicators aren't necessarily in it as statement makers. Bleeding cuts like "Puke on You," "Tear It Up," and "Gone Nowhere" seem concerned with factors more immediate than a feminist agenda. Where are we going to sleep? Who will buy us beer? Why are you such an idiot? These are the burning questions, and vocalist Sabrina is glad to deliver the answers with a big loogie on your leather. When they aren't dogging out a rival ("She Smells Like Me"), the Applicators find time to deliver fabulous covers of Sleater-Kinney's "Good Things," and the Dead Milkmen's "Violent School." The former displays a flair for emotion and actual singing, while the latter is just another opportunity to pour a six-pack worth of attitude onto tinny treble and scratchy percussion. What's Your Excuse isn't groundbreaking. But its messiness is made whole by a foundation of solid playing and Sabrina's smart vocals. While she captivates on the mic, her mates are stealing your hubcaps. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide