Big Boys

• Lullabies Help the Brain Grow [Moment, 1983] B

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Lullabies Help the Brain Grow [Moment, 1983]
If this exemplary hardcore unit can't quite break their LP into the general-interest zone, I begin to wonder whether the new punks are ever going to reach anyone with a full head of hair. The Big Boys are far from monolithic, cutting the blur with ballad tempos and funk rhythms and even horns. Randy Turner's mock my-voice-is-changing squeal has an old (white) blues singer's authority. And their unmistakable heart in no way softens the ranting fury that's the signature of the style. But without a guitar ace (Bad Brains) or a songwriter (Descendents) or both (Black Flag), they cross over only at their best--about six cuts out of fourteen here, including the two slowest. B