Review by Rachel Jablonski
I have this reflex, an automatic response to certain sounds and situations. When I see, hear, or reflect on the most unpleasant of circumstances I gag. It’s not that I have a weak stomach so much since I never puke. It’s just that I gag like I’m going to be sick. Not a back of the throat deep noise, but rather a BLEH BLEH kind of sound. The gags typically come in pairs in response to such things as snot, urine on the toilet seat, Michael Jackson’s face, live plastic surgeries, and some of the stunts performed on the MTV show Wild Boys. It’s not something I’m proud of, but a reaction I cannot ignore nonetheless. So when I heard the hidden track on Just a Liability from California’s 46 Short well…
Just a Liability is pure hardcore punk. Fast paced music, repeating chord progressions, and rough vocals stemming from gun violence among other issues are rampant on the album. The album artwork is composed of three pictures showing a man at three different stages in his life. A gun is in hand in all the stages: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. There is a human figure shadowed in the recesses of the hallway outside of the room the man is in. The title track may explain the significance of the cover best:
Father’s gun hides on the closet shelf
Johnny wants to show it off,
To his friend
A tug of war over,
Who gets to hold it first
And a muzzle flash later
A young life’s at its end
The lyrics reflect an overall theme of the album and not just conceptually. 46 Short has composed an album of typical punk songs, to the point and short in duration. In fact longest track is the untitled hidden track coming in at 3 minutes and 30 seconds. If no other song on the album has gotten a rise out of you politically or emotionally, the hidden track surely will. First thing you hear is a toilet seat lifted up and then… gag gag ROAR OF SPLASHES gag cough cough PUKE cough cough gag silence cough cough spit cough spit cough spit cough spit choke gag gag cough toilet flush spit spit silence spit silence spit spit running water silence running water silence. Imagine my reaction to the vomiting. BLEH BLEH oh my gosh BLEH BLEH wow BLEH BLEH how long is this BLEH BLEH going to last BLEH BLEH it’s not funny! BLEH BLEH this is... BLEH BLEH. 46 Short have indeed succeeded in provoking my gag reflex, particularly the first time in hearing the piece. Yet, each time I listen to the disc I am subliminally compelled to wait for the hidden track. Laugh at my BLEH BLEH reflex and the sadistic enjoyment it brings if you may, but do not mistake my weakness for that of 46 Short. If you dig old school punk, this album is sick.