Since my friend Eric expressed interest in picking up a digital download of their album Jettison (1988) to replace the cassette copy he owned years ago, I thought I'd hit up their debut album Throb Throb (1985).

"Throb Throb" by Naked Raygun - [1]. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

The easiest way to think of this album is to compare it to The Ramones early stuff... but with a shred more anger and an absolute metric asston more adrenalin.

Throb Throb is such a great album to listen to when you've had a bad day at work and you need to let out some frustration with a pounding bottomline courtesy of Jim Colao's headbanging drumlines and Camilo Gonzalez's brutal bass.

Yet, despite this punk aggression, there's a lot of sonic variety. Sure, there's the classic punk sensibility in tracks like "Surf Combat" and "I Don't Know." But you get a heavy jazz vibe from "Libido" (possibly one of my favorite songs on the album) and a lot of ska-influenced swing from "Only In America."

Then there's "Managua." Oh, Managua! Such brilliant guitar work from John Haggerty.

I really can't wait for Eric to nab that copy of Jettison. I need more!