It’s not totally unreasonable to argue that The 5,6,7,8’s should be seen and not heard, or at least not heard without being seen. On stage and on film (Kill Bill Vol 1), their collision of Suzie Wong fashions and ropey Cramps riffs makes perfect sense. Divorced of the former, their pigeon-English clattering often sounds mindless. Even so, in measured doses, like the Uma-carnage-backdrop of “I’m Blue” or the Zeppelin holler of “Let’s Go Boogaloo”, theirs is still a savage, trash karate chop worth succumbing to.
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