Alice Donut - There's a Curious Lump in My Sack

  by Dave Toynton

published: 24 / 9 / 2004

intro

New York punks Alice Donut reformed in 2003 after a seven year break, and have just brought a new live DVD from a London show they played at the Camden Underworld earlier this year. Dave Toynton finds their eccentric form of thrash punk highly appealing

Alice Donut are a raw thrash punk experience. I had not come across Alice Donut until now, but they are from New York and have recorded eight albums since first forming in 1988. Their music is fast and furious. Each song on this DVD, which has as its main feature live footage of a gig they recently played at the Camden Underworld in London , alternates between thrash punk and thrash metal, but without-I am glad to add- the long guitar solos. While 'There's a Curious Lump in My Sack' is definitely one for the fans, it is clear that a good time was had by all at the Camden Underworld gig. It has nineteen live tracks from the show, which was recorded on the 5th of July 2004. It also contains promo videos for three Alice Donut songs, 'Cost', 'Helsinki' and 'She Tells Me Things'. Fans were given to the opportunity through the group's official website www.alicedonut.com to make their own Alice Donut promos and the band then picked out their three favourites. The three videos here are largely animated and have a very arty feel. On top of this there is an interview with the members of the band, in which they backtrack over their career from early days to the present time. And we are not finished yet !There are two more songs from a show Alice Donut played at New York's famous CBGB's venue on their first comeback tour in 2003, having reformed after a seven year break It is really hard to tag a band as good as Alice Donut to any other punk band. At times though they are reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys. Singer Tomas Antona also sounds quite similar to John Lydon on tracks such as 'Helsinki', 'Chicken Door' and 'Egg'. This is a really enjoyable DVD. It is packed with enough thrash punk to keep any fan of the genre happy!