Recorded by Richard Marr at Galaxy Park Studios, Allston, MA
Reviewer -Val Barbaro
It's funny how certain things get more noticed - sometimes more dismissed - when done by females. What would be offensive when done by men becomes expressionistic feminist equaling when carried out by a woman, the message seemingly being that it's OK to be the alpha female, but not the alpha male. Lyrics on Doomed From The Get Go follow this notion. The Midnight Creeps are just as crude as the boys, citing clits instead of dicks and maintaining a dominating, sex-centered focus (almost tauntingly so) with a female perspective. But, because of their female identity, this gets more attention than a male-led band would attract. Doomed From The Get Go must be taken at face value and judged on that level, for face value is what's offered up, though certainly the members must know the advantage such a reversal gives them. The forceful delivery, something resembling not punk or hardcore but more of a grafting of one onto the other with a bit more hardcore than punk (but not stereotypically hardcore), keeps certain derisory words from becoming laughable. The usual problem with female vocalists within the harder genres is that what is meant to be threatening comes off only half so. Typically, only male singers can readily evoke truly demonic tones. But this is not the case with the Midnight Creeps. Lead vocalist Jenny Hurricane can run with the big boys in this way, though perhaps at a larger expense to her vocal cords than her male contemporaries. This screamy quality governs the mood of Doomed From The Get Go but is offset by an even, rich alto (the fluctuation between the two is not always smooth, and can come off as uneasy or harsh). Musically, the band is much more polished, but the combination of instruments and voice is well meshed.