by Steve Huey
A bit of explanation about Speedealer's Here Comes Death: The band was originally known as REO Speedealer until a lawsuit forced them to shorten their name, and the album was originally released in fall 1999 by Royalty, which promptly went bankrupt. Here Comes Death was, however, re-released in late 2000 by Speedealer's new label Palm. It's full of psycho Southern garage raunch: a little hardcore punk, a little grunge, a little psychobilly, and a firm grounding in heavy metal, specifically vintage Aerosmith sleaze. The results place them in territory somewhat similar to Nashville Pussy, albeit with bug-eyed punk aggression in place of the titillating female vocalists. There may not be a great deal in the way of songwriting, but Here Comes Death packs an invigorating wallop as it rushes past, and Speedealer has a crazed enough presence to pull the whole thing off.