Cheater Slicks

***REISSUED!!! CHEATER SLICKS' Destination Lonely is perhaps the most important record of their long and spectacular discography. Their second full length, it marks the beginning of their decision to remain a trio after first Alpo and then Merle Allin departed the band and the inability to recruit any suitable replacements on bass. So began the SHANNON / SHANNON / HATCH line-up that still soldiers on today. Originally released on the Australian Dog Meat label, the LP documents the beginnings of what were their most productive years, with three LPs and seven singles (or thereabouts) coming in this fruitful 1991-1995 period. Destination Lonely contains the blueprint for future releases, an unbeatable mix of covers and originals played through over-amped guitars with DANA and TOM sharing vocal duties. Here we get our first taste of what might be Dana's signature number, the savage knuckle-drag that is "Murder," a song that is still a staple in their live sets. The big heart-render here is "If Heaven is Your Home," one of the first of many, many outpourings of the rawest in real emotion that have become their forte. And the title track is the type of straight-ahead-into-a-brick-wall rock'n'roll burner that will leave your needle scorched. The cover selection is impeccable: two fitting Aussie garage covers ("Rum Drunk" and "This Life of Mine"), a blistering "In and Out" (before The Mummies did it) and a handful more ranging from the obscure (Silverfleet?!) to the almost popular (Love's "Can't Explain"). These are the sounds of the band just beginning their long run, hitting on every possible cylinder, plunging headlong into an almost 30 year long "career" without looking backwards or forwards, to this day still unable to quench their thirst for playing the most desperate and desolate garage-rock this world has ever heard. For years Destination Lonely was the most difficult Slicks record to track down stateside, a situation finally remedied 25 years later by Almost Ready Records. Oh, and the DANIEL CLOWES artwork? Just consider that a bonus.