The music on Simpler Machine's album 2013 falls somewhere between crossover thrash metal and hardcore punk (think DRI, Anthrax, NoFX), throw in a little bit of hair metal and add the explosive rhythmic breakdowns of those bands at their best. The singer's vocals sound a lot like Anthrax's Joey Belladonna crossed with The Offspring's Dexter Holland.

2013's opening track, "Pretty Good Looking" sets the pace for the rest of the album - frantic verses, and choruses that hit you suddenly and hit you hard, making for a satisfying blend of testosterone and catchiness. This album's highlight is "Ratfuck," which opens with an ear-catching riff and features a triumphant chorus that would have Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson singing along with his beer bottle held high. "She Likes To Fuck A Lot" and "Let's Fuck in The Van" are both mid-tempo, ballsy punk songs which are all right but not nearly as good as "Five Minute Fuck," which reminds me of late-80s Anthrax on a good day.

This album isn't groundbreaking but it's catchy, intense and just plain humorous. As I said before, these songs rock their hardest when the guitars and drums slam into each other during the breakdowns, making this band one of punk rock's heavier hitters. Sometimes you get lucky enough to hear an entire song (such as Monkey Trap, one of my favorite songs on the album) that pounds with this intensity. None of the songs are bad, but since most of them stay squarely within the genre, the album does get a little monotonous before it's over. For example, songs like "Mental Karate Chick" and "Monday Man" rock in their own right, but listen to these songs back to back with the rest of the album and they lose some of their impact.

All in all, a strong album that proudly toes the line between thrash metal and punk, and would satisfy fans on both sides of the fence. However, it does get a little old if you listen to it from start to finish.

And I can't leave you without commenting on the song titles, which would make our forefathers proud of enacting the First Amendment. It's also sure to piss off prudes and the political correctness police. I'm speaking from experience, because I downloaded this album on my roommate's computer, knowing that she'd throw a fit once she read the song titles. Fifteen minutes after she got home from work she was screaming at me to "get this shit off my computer!"