Raunchy rock n'roll is the secret passion of many a so-called punks who wish to progress beyond the three chords to do four. Jared Ellington, a teenage skinhead from Anti-Social Kiosk (an old punk band from the Opposition Party era) shared this passion and while hanging out at Woodstock at Far East Plaza, met a bunch of rockers from Route 88 and together they formed Edgar's Fault, a rock/heavy metal outfit heavily influenced by the LA sound. Their big break came when their song “Positive Mental Attitude”, appearing on WEA's “Let's Celebrate” compilation got positively acclaimed as the best song on that record. Eventually they did not get signed to WEA but released their debut album on the independent Route 88 Music instead.

The material on this CD is best described as a blend of hard rock with a fair mix of heavy music and ballads that sounds mostly like Guns N' Roses and Skid Row affairs, although Jared seems to be also quite heavily influenced by Dave Mustaine's (Megadeth) vocals. “Dead Roses”, the opener is a popular material from the band, having extensive radioplay on the old Radio Heart station. This song is hard rocking with vicious riffs, cool licks and catchy chorus, the string works of both guitarist John Chee and bassist Kamal, and Jared's raw, nasty vocals cooking up a lethal combo. “Doctor Doctor” (I'm surprised that this song managed to pass the censorship in 1991), “Never Say Die (Part I and II)”, “Master Swindler”, “Black Eye” and “Speed Sleep” are the other more upbeat rocking songs from the album, and they are great metallic music to headbang on the mean streets, to the same effect as the omnipresent influence, Guns N' Roses. While “Our Tree”, “Dear Lord” and “You're Not The Only One” (another heavily featured song on radio back then), are more soft rock ballads that are distinctive, memorable and mandatory for any self deserving LA influenced rock band to showcase their sensitive side, haha. “21 Second War” for the record, is just 21 seconds of filler. The technical proficiency of the band is nicely demonstrated on the songs here, with some very neat sounding riffings and drum fills, and of course sounding nothing like simple punk numbers, yet very punk in attitude.

Edgar's Fault was supposed to have recorded another album featuring old material, after Greg (the drummer guy after Bong) and Kamal left the band but we didn't hear from them anymore. Last thing I heard Jared left for Canada, so it could have possibly spelt an end to this cult band from the early '90s. Those long hair, facial hair, leather and the bad ass attitude is not a regular feature in today's rock music but for those who relish the crazy sounds from those wild days, you'd have agreed that Edgar's Fault did it exceptionally well. From the way I see, they fittingly commemorated our favourite “Dead Roses” and its generation of jaded rockers.