Review Summary: The debut of one of underground punk-glam's best bands to hit Hollywood.
Though they’ve never truly made it to the big ranks in the music industry, the Peppermint Creeps have a wide fan base all over the country. They’ve toured across the United States, hitting Rockstar Sports Bar in Fort Worth, Texas (drummer Traci Michaelz’s final show alive), as well as even New York City in 2008. Animatron X is the Creeps’ debut album, released in 2002 with the lineup of Macy Malone on vocals and guitar, Kari Ash on bass, and the late Traci Michaelz on drums and backing vocals.
The introduction in the beginning of the album can be called similar to the style Motley Crue used on Shout At the Devil in “In the Beginning”. A futuristic male voice tells a story about the world falling to drugs and the Peppermint Creeps taking over the music industry, which leads into the first song of the album “Creepshow”. Once this plays, you know you’re in for a glam-punk attack. The vocals and lyrics are in-your-face while Traci Michaelz backs with pounding drums. There’s quite an end to the introduction when the track ends with “Welcome to the Peppermint Creepshow!”
The rest of album is definitely not for virgin ears, mothers of young children, people with a tendency to vomit, and people with no sense of humor. Following “Creepshow” is “Coke W***e” (I think most can get what the censored word is). It’s a hard-rocking ode to a drug-addicted woman who will give sex for drugs. Most of their songs aren’t very deep and are ridiculous, which is why I repeat you need a sense of humor to like this album.
Another great song after the next two tracks is “Lesbian”. It describes, to some, a guy’s worst nightmare with the words “I almost married my girlfriend, a lesbian!” This song was turned into a music video for their YouTube channel soon after. Oh, the songwriting genius of the late Traci Michaelz. The next song I must rave about is “Murdered Maryann”. To put it bluntly, the woman screwed him over with his friend, so he killed her and lied about it. Macy sings “I had to put her to an end for f*****g my best friend. If it happened to you, I’m sure you’d understand.” I, personally, think this song is pretty funny. It’s fun to sing and the story is funny. A classic angry punk song.
The song “Stupid” describes a girlfriend annoying them to no end, as proven in “You’re a stupid whore and you’re crazy. Get out of my life, you bitch.” It’s a pretty solid song altogether, music-wise. This song was also made in to a music video for their YouTube. Their most well-known song amongst fans, though, is “F**k Off and Die” (lovely title, right?). Again, another song about a woman’s betrayal. The song opens with, “You’re not very nice, and I don’t think I like you. You’re not very nice ‘cause you made me cry. You’re not very nice, and I don’t want to see you, so why don’t you just f**k off and die?” It’s definitely an angry song, but it’s the Creeps’ main anthem at gigs.
The album comes to a close with the song “Red Lights”. It’s a song about getting angry at traffic, practically. There’s not much depth to it. My favorite line is, “I would rather be smacked in the head than have to wait for another red light again.” It’s a simple song, but the tune is so catchy you can’t help but sing.
Overall, to conclude this, I believe this is a pretty great album. The songs and musical parts are simple, but that’s the point of punk. Punk songs have never meant to be real in-depth. Just take a look at the Sex Pistols or the Ramones. I do believe the Peppermint Creeps could have been something huge if Traci hadn’t passed away. I don’t think the Creeps will ever be the Creeps without him (R.I.P. Traci). If you’ve never heard this band and just read this review, I highly recommend buying it! Purchase it either on their site on iTunes.
