MTX Reviews

Everyone's Entitled To Their Own Opinion -- 1
Night Shift at the Thrill Factory -- 1
Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood -- 1
Alternative Is Here To Stay -- 1 : 2 : 3 : 4
Love is Dead -- 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6
Revenge is Sweet, and So Are You -- 1 : 2
Show Reviews -- 1 : 2

Everyone's Entitled To Their Own Opinion

From CDreviews.com
It may be ten years old, but this re-issue from The Mr. T Experience sounds just as fresh today as it did then. With the commercial success of bands such as Green Day, Rancid, and Bad Religion, the timing is right for one of the original surf-punk bands to make a resurrection of sorts.
Whether playing the three-chord grinders or the grunge/surf ala The Ventures, MTX brings the roudiness of the small club scene into your own surroundings. With a no-holes-barred attitude and a wry sense of humor, this disc is full of fun music that will take the baby-boomers back to a better musical day. Also featured on this disc are two songs that will evoke memories of musical disasters - the college radio hit "Danny Partridge" about Bonaduce's run-ins with the law, and a cover of the Monkey's "Pleasant Valley Sunday".
With classic lyrics such as "I ask am I your man, you hit me with a pan" (Just Your Way Of Saying No) and "I want to eat my TV set, I want to smell like aqua net" (The Empty Experience), you're in for an interesting listen. Bring back the good old days.
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Night Shift at the Thrill Factory

By Mark Jenkins
Credited with originating the East Bay pop-punk sound that later yielded Green Day and Rancid, the Mr. T Experience has been playing its own variations on the Ramones formula for a decade. In fact, the quartet's new "Night Shift at the Thrill Factory" is an eight-year-old album, now available on CD for the first time and featuring five bonus tracks (for a total of 22). Musically, the disc is lively and predictable, but the lyrics cover a lot of ground: "What Is Punk?" imagines roughing up Phil Donahue, "Now We Are 21" accepts the burdens of adulthood ("Now we are 21/ Now we have to get things done"), and the droll "The History of the Concept of the Soul" is, well, a history of the concept of the soul, complete with footnotes.
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Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood

From MRR
Not just the EP of the same name but also 25 (count 'em) cuts culled from the 7"s and comp. cuts, including the SHONEN KNIFE song, the Jon Von song done without the band, also "Spiderman", the REM cover, and more silly covers than you can shake an open A chord at. What can you say, these guys were pretty goofy ya' know. But through endless, countless nights at Gilman, the Berkeley Square even the old I-Beam, like warm underwear these guys were there. Excuse me for being a teary eyed nostalgic fuck, but these guys were part of my gestalt, even if I couldn't really say I really liked them (but that's besides the point), they were there. Now in 1997, Mr. Von is still kickin', Dr. Frank's still in there-- it's the power of faith, man!
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Alternative Is Here To Stay

Taken from "Spooky Poop" #17
Great catchy power-pop with solid harmonies justifies the word "Alternative" so many times in a song. Gets better every time I listen to it. Good music to clean to. You have to love these guys. Lookout! (****)
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by Michael Ansaldo
A few years back I had the misfortune to find myself in the bar of a popular steakhouse, seeing off a co-worker after his last day of work. Being a vegetarian and completely at odds with the suburban-cowpie set, I found my situation a little unnerving. But a sight rattled me even more. On the dance floor was a burly, tobacco-chewing roughneck, gyrating to Depeche Mode's "Policy of Truth." As I watched him dance -- actually his clumsy moves were closer to calisthenics -- all I could think was that this was exactly the type of guy who would have kicked my ass for listening to DM (or the Cure, the Smiths, etc.) only a few years earlier. Within months of this incident, Nirvana would break, Nordstroms would start selling Doc Martens, nose-piercing would become cliche, and radio stations across the country would change to "modern rock" formats. And all of it would be marketed as new.
Leave it to Dr. Frank, punk's poet laureate, to actually address the issue. With ten years of underground adulation and commercial indifference behind them, the Mr. T. Experience have been around long enough to remember when "alternative" was more, or should I say less, than a marketing term, a fashion statement or a sound. Back then alternative music was just that -- an alternative to the ingenuous, big-money slime that oozed out of the car radio at every turn of the dial. "Alternative Is Here To Stay," the title track on their new EP, is their tongue-in-cheek anthem to the alternative culture that has sprung in the wake of Nirvana and Mr. T's former label-mates Green Day's success. Here the band embraces Anne Rice, Tatoos, and the "modern rock revolution," with the same irreverence that has peppered much of their work. The fact that Dr. Frank's mock manifesto is delivered over a composite of early Ramones tunes only adds to the irony.
Dr. Frank's trademark eloquence and the turn of a few good phrases can't elevate the second track, "New Girlfriend," above its cliched three-chord rant, and the absence of a strong melody. He does far better when he takes that minimal approach and strips it down to just acoustic guitar and voice on "You Today," a cheery tune that belies some moody lyrics.
These songs lack the sonic punch of "The Mr. T Experience and the Women Who Love Them" EP released earlier this year. But that's to be expected from a band that has had more than its share of personnel changes, including a bass-player turnover ("Alternative Is Here To Stay" introduces Joel on bass) rivaled only by Spinal Tap's drummers. And without co-conspirator Jon von, Dr. Frank's light doesn't shine quite as bright. But these two EPs reveal a band that is still too clever, too intelligent, and too literate to ever reach mass acceptance. God bless 'em.
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By Ian Doig
3 out of 10
The Mr. T Experience stop just shy of becoming a novelty act. Their three song disc features "Alternative Is Here To Stay", an exercise in the obvious which goes like this, "I'm in love with an alternative girl, she's not like the other alternative girls: she's pierced and dyed and scarified...."
"New Girlfriend remains the same, while "You Today" picks up an acoustic guitar and further hinders the scenario with lines like "You said goodbye today and I'm still here asking why today."
There's a tiny bone in the human body named I would so like to like this. Milk Milk Lemonade really warmed that bone up back in (_______). Our Bodies Our Selves then made the bone worry a bit. The fourth track on this disc, the alternative version of the first song which, you guessed it, is the same as the first, has taken the bone in hand and repeatedly whacked it against a passing professional skateboarder until it has became so sprained as to warrant complete removal.
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From CDreviews.com
Ten years old and still going strong, The Mr. T Experience is back with their latest punk/pop offering, a 4-song EP on Lookout Records. MTX was doing this long before Green Day made it "cool" to die your hair and see how fast you could play your guitar. The title cut, while as fast and furious as ever for MTX, sounds more like a FOX TV theme song. It's fun, it's catchy, but the kind of song that radio might have a hard time with. The lyrics are great, capturing the current music craze among the high school/college scene with verses such as "She's not like the other alternative girls: she's pierced and dyed and scarified, she hates Tom Cruise, she loves Anne Rice...".
The other two songs on the disc have more radio potential. "New Girlfriend" is a comical post-breakup song to an ex, with even more energy than "Alternative". MTX once again has come up with great lyrics - "My new girlfriend is better than you, she's got bigger breasts and a higher IQ". "You Today" will take you by surprise with its acoustic guitar bed, with some electric mixed in making it sound like a Bob Mould song.
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Love Is Dead

From "We Don't Know Yet" #?
This is the perfect pop-punk album. Listening to this, one can only begin to hear where Green Day got their ideas. This album contains some of the best love songs I have ever heard. 'Dumb Little Band' sums up the life of a true punk rock band. You know, the ones that continue on without the major label money. The ones that truly do it for the music. Get this as quick as you can.
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From "Ten Things Jesus Wants You To Know" #13
I'm really running out of new things to say about MTX. They're simply great and this album is no exception. It takes a little longer to grow on you than their previous stuff, but it's equally brilliant.
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From ???
This is very good fast power pop from California. I first heard them on this Saturday morning radio show called Greasy Kid Stuff (WFMU, New Jersey). They cover School House Rock songs and Sesame Street songs on other albums. This album is very consistant, fast post-ramones type rock. It's power pop.
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By J.R. Higgins
I'll admit it up front--I like speedy pop-punk bands in general and East Bay boys, The Mr. T. Experience, in particular. What's more, Love is Dead ("a collection of songs that accurately capture how good you felt before being abandoned," according to the press release) is a current fave around my house.
Still, while this record has a few misses among the hits and doesn't quite live up to Mr. T.'s recent Alternative is Here to Stay EP, there's plenty of great head-bobbin' to be had. A few of my favorites: "Semi-OK," "Sackcloth and Ashes," "Can I Do the Thing?" Best of all is the self-deprecating and autobiographical "Dumb Little Band," which cheerfully addresses the fact that Mr. T.-influenced punk bands are getting rich and famous ("Our friends are all busy with their own affairs/becoming punk rock millionaires") and the originators of the sound aren't. Life is unfair, maybe, but with records like this, it can still be fun.
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From CDreviews.com
They're back...with more love songs for the mosh generation. Crash pop at its finest from Dr. Frank and company in the form of two minute ditties with lots of oo-ie's and ba-ba's. From the pop spasms of "Hangin' On To You" to the surprisingly slower "Deep Deep Down", and even the partially acoustic "You're The Only One", these veterans of the three chord rockers still crank with the best of the latest wave.
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From ???
This is very good fast power pop from California. I first heard them on this Saturday morning radio show called Greasy Kid Stuff (WFMU, New Jersey). They cover School House Rock songs and Sesame Street songs on other albums. This album is very consistant, fast post-ramones type rock. It's power pop.
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Revenge Is Sweet and So Are You

From ???
Ten years ago, when Green Day was a group of angst-ridden junior high schoolers, northern California's Mr. T Experience was busy in the trenches waving the pop-punk flag and fine-tuning its crafty, melodic style in clubs all across our fair land. Though commercial success has (un)fortunately eluded MTX over the years,
this trio's abilities have significantly tightened up and grown as it has stuck closely to its artistic guns.
With guitarist Dr. Frank still at MTX's controls, "Revenge Is Sweet, And So Are You" continues the group's steady stream of humor-inspired albums for the Berkeley, CA-based Lookout, and certainly pulls no punches. While there are few surprises here lots of strange, short songs like "Lawnmower Of Love," "Swiss Army Girlfriend," and "You You You" all anchored on crisp guitars and snappy drums "Revenge" doesn't disappoint.
Produced by long-time associate Kevin Army, who also twiddled the knobs for the aforementioned Green Day, it's the sort of album that breaks no new ground, but certainly will bring a smile to your face. Now if only the Weirdos would reform, then I'd really be a happy man.
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From Drop-D Magazine
Why should we be interested in juvenile, short-fast-punk-pop music after all these years? BECAUSE, Stupid, Mr. T Experience are the Masters. No other band can make the joy ("so if the world don't end/and we're not destroyed/and the Earth isn't hit by an asteroid/our love will last forever and ever") and the heartache ("I've got nothing left to care for/now there's no one there to be there for/I lost all that stuff/when I lost you") and even-though-I-know-she-doesn't-know-I-exist-but-I-don't-care patheticness ("even though her hand is cold/that's what I want to hold") of Young Love seem so new and interesting.
Mr. T Experience make the most well-worn paths of popular music seem new again by being really, really witty, by keeping things to the point, by rocking hard and furious, and by throwing in every twist and surprise their ten-plus years of experience have taught them. Plus, no one writes 'em like Dr. Frank -- reading the lyric sheet alone is worthwhile, and that's a rare treat indeed.
Should you ever need to lift up your spirits, perk up a party or just want to commiserate with someone who has self-esteem issues as bad as your own, then Dr. Frank and the boys have got your healin' prescription.
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Show Reviews

Detroit, MI: September 12, 1996.
3 lookout pop punk bands played at the shelter in detroit on Thrusday September 12, 1996. The Smugglers opened up with a set of energetic 50s-oldies-punk and they were pretty amazing. Probably the best band there. I had seen them before and I was looking forward to seeing them again, and they did not disappoint me. Their style of music is awesome and you should look into it. It will keep you on the move. Other bands with similar style are the Hi-Fives, Ne'er Do Wells, Brents TV, Sweet Baby, Bomb Bassets, and the Vinegrats. Long time pop punk kings were on next. The Mr T Experience played way better than last time I saw them and they did not use the "this song is about a girl" intro that much this time. They played better songs than last time, but they could've played more of my favorite songs. Pop punk veterans the Queers were on next, and I really liked their set. Even though my friends (Chris and Mike to name a few) thought they sucked. The Queers basically played my favorite types of songs. Fast, short songs about girls, beer, farting, and other stupid stuff. You see, my friends like the slower beach boy type of Queers songs but that's ok. Those are good too. Some of the songs on their set include: hi mom, I dont wanna be a granola head, and ursulla finally has tits ("dammit we're excited"). Too bad they didn't play "I cant stop farting". Maybe next time. --By ???
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Anaheim, CA: October 2, 1998
I was really excited to see these bands in such a small place. Mr. T Experience being one of my favorite bands and the Hi-Fives being that extra special bonus and of course Thee Impossibles rounding it out and making one of the best shows of the year for me.
Thee Impossibles started out with "Impossible" from their upcoming album "Who invited these guys, anyway?" That song that just sticks in your head, and makes you walk around shouting I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E-S! The crowd loved them. Their pop punk sound I would say fits right into the Lookout family. Now if they could just convince Lookout! Danny Special and Uncle Pete switch off on vocals so the variety is nice. They ended their set with "Friday Night", how very appropriate considering it was Friday night! Hey!!
Next up was the Hi-Fives! We got our space right up front for this awesome bunch of guys. The Hi-Fives performance is something to treasure, since touring for them is rare. The energy of this band is so contagious. The whole crowd was bouncing and swaying to their surfy, poppy, garage sound. Their set was filled with older stuff from "Welcome to My Mind" to more current. They played several songs from "Get Down," their new LP due out in Mid October. They played "In the Meantime, Please Don't Leave," a new favorite of mine. I have to say that the Hi-Fives are the happiest band on earth and they should play Disneyland. They put on an incredible performance.
Now as the crowd waits in anticipation MTX sets up! They start of their set with "Dumb Little Band" only because a few people were demanding it. With every song being "About a girl" of course, they played their hearts out. The place being totally packed did not discourage them from dancing around! They played all my faves including "Last Time I Listened To You", "Swallow Everything" and "Here She Comes"! Right in front of Dr. Frank was this drunk guy that was spilling his beer on everybody while singing every word and mimicking Frank's every move! MTX could play all night and I would still be dancing! They did two encores and played "Spiderman" and "Book of Revelation" whic made the drunk guy really go off. If you didn't get a chance to see them this time, they are playing on November 24th at Chain Reaction -AKA Public Storage in Anaheim with Thee Impossibles. You owe it to yourself to check this band. They are simply amazing. --By Lisa
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