Broken Teeth

Broken Teeth

Blood on the Radio – Live (Perris)

A live album from a band that plays at least every other weekend might seem a little redundant, but it hardly matters when said band is as reliable as Broken Teeth. And given the way frontman and local hard-rock lifer Jason McMaster feeds off an audience, it may even be preferable to a studio release. Recorded last March for KLBJ's Local Licks Live at the Austin School of Music, Blood on the Radio shows off Broken Teeth in their AC/DC-derived prime, all salacious riffs and low-slung rhythms. McMaster cruises along in full teasin'/pleasin' mode, able to make a trip to the dentist sound as appealing as a night out at Room 710. If he's not able to replicate the piercing shrieks of the Dangerous Toys days, he doesn't have to; his combination growl/purr is just as effective, and every once in a while (like on "She Dances Evil") he peels off one of those ragged howls that cuts straight to the bone. Behind him, Paul Lidel, Bruce Rivers, Jared Tuten, and Brett McCormick find the finesse lurking within brazen rockers like "Stick It In" and "Undertaker," replicating the live Broken Teeth experience quite nicely. The only thing absent is that pesky cigarette-smoke smell in your clothes the next morning. And probably a hangover.