Exhibit A in the argument that suggests virtuoso talent isn't a prerequisite to rocking the joint off its foundations and that, in fact, it might be a hindrance. Eighteen years cranking out four-chord rock'n'roll has done nothing but favours for the Fleshtones, as Laboratory of Sound, their tenth album overall, kicks butt and takes names. Odd that such a frat rock, partying sound should be produced by the dour Steve Albini but what the hey, from the opening Let's Go! to its hidden track closer of Hendrix's I Don't Live Today, no one will ever notice that Zaremba is hardly Caruso and guitarist Keith Streng isn't Slowhand. No one will care either, for they will have long since pushed back the living room furniture to make room for dancing, moving and grooving. [Sid Griffin]

Hot Press

With the Ramones finally retiring, The Fleshtones now may well be the longest serving band from the original New York scene. Certainly their style - crisp Sixties beat for the retrobop - has remained undeviating down the years.

Hiring Steve Albini to produce 'Laboratory of Sound' has made little difference to their favoured style save for a more dense and darker sound. When their guitarist Keith Streng fitfully flirts with 'Gloria' on 'Nostradamus Jnr.', you know that the Fleshtones still remain loyal to their earliest inherited sounds and values.

And I like it. Really you've got to favour a band who knit together guitar, bass and drums to make an unpretentiously sturdy brand of rock and roll that propels people onto the dancefloor. But if I'd be happy to encounter the Fleshtones live, I'm less certain about 'Laboratory of Sound'. Their chemistry set isn't consistently recycling the riffs into anthems.

Indeed, it's sometimes an oddly inward album. Riffs crank out but rarely elevate. You can still admire their values and, especially when Streng works out the minor details of their arrangements, but they're not painting the big pictures in their choruses. It may be symptomatic that a more retiring song, 'Train of Thought', is among those ones that work best.

The Fleshtones may never have achieved the same chart profile as their original comrades, but they have survived for a reason. You may not be entranced by 'Laboratory of Sound', but check out their back-catalogue to discover the real secrets of their endurance. [Bill Graham]

Gig Central

I'd never heard anything by Fleshtones before and I don't know anything about them either, but this creates a good first impression. Laid back rock'n'roll that somehow reminded me of 'Pulp Fiction', and much of the underground sixties stuff. Also in this I find hints of psychobilly, all in all everything ties together nicely to create a truly wonderful 50 minutes of something weirdly wonderful.

Paint It Red

Emerging out of the New York rock'n'roll explosion in 1976, the Fleshtones hit the world with their raw garage style approach to rock music. Nearly twenty years later and they are still bashing out the same gloriously greasy, laid back noise pollution that it's just impossible to dislike. With a sound and energy not dissimilar to the Ramones, the Fleshtones with Steve Albini (of Nirvana, Urge Overkill and Breeders fame) producing, have come through with a fine example of rock music the way it should be played. It's honest, rough, and you can fuck off if you don't like it. Rock'n'Roll forever. [John Hayton]

Mojo

Remember when dance music meant a rockin' Farfisa organ rather than a programmed drum machine? Here it is again, the soundtrack for the kind of party you were never cool enough to crash as a teenager. Only better, because it's fresh and fun, vintage rather than retro, and even rather sophisticated in a culturally hip in-joke way. Steve Albini (Nirvana, Urge Overkill) produced it with his finger on the pulse, helping to make it the finest Fleshtones album in years. [CM]

Loughborough Echo

The Fleshtones are the fathers of party rock. And this is obvious after listening to their new album Laboratory of Sound (Musidisc). The group started the garage punk sound 18 years ago and their original style of party rock'n'roll is continued in Laboratory of Sound. Produced by Nirvana's Steve Albini, the album incorporates a variety of different music - whether it be rock, soul or country - sang by Peter Zaremba. Let's Go is the opening track on the album and gives a great introduction to those who are new to the band.

Wolverhampton Chronicle

New York's Fleshtones have been around 18 years and still turn out a raucous, cheerfully dumb punk/60's sound, akin to the Ramones and the Cramps. One track, Nostradamus Jnr, even echoes garage band favourite Gloria. They could win a new audience because young upstarts Green Day and Offspring are having massive success with a similar style of music. [Leon Burakowski]

Face It

Hooray, Hooray, the 'Tones are back! They've been kickin' ass since '76 and I'm glad to say, nothing's changed. If you've been hiding your ripped Ramones T-shirt in the sand, this clouting combo deliver no-nonsense rock'n'roll with no heavy undertones whatsoever. Opening with the jolly 'Let's Go!' then straight into 'High On Drugs' and eleven other such busting blasts, if you miss this superbly constructed piece of sure-fire get up 'n' go twaddle produced by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Urge Overkill etc.) then you need your goolies cut off (sorry mum). Buy it, love it, dance up 'n' down with your brain hanging out! P.S. Don't miss the hidden track! [Les Cannon]

Kerrang

The Fleshtones, one of the seminal New York Garage/Punk acts of recent years, the 'Tones issue an album titled 'Laboratory of Sound' through Musidisc on October 16. It was produced by Steve Albini in Chicago. The band play a one-off London date at The Bottom Line in Shepherds Bush on November 15.

Ripple

Hailing from a bygone age of old fashioned punk'n'roll circa Misfits meets the Stooges, the Fleshtones ham it up just fine. It ain't original, it won't change the world, but it has ATITOOD stamped across every dirty little nugget and frankly that's got to be worth a whole bucket of Menswear.

Blackmore Vale

This is by all accounts the 18th album by New York's Fleshtones. One can only admire their tenacity. Produced by the ever busy Steve Albini, it is garage/trash rock'n'roll utterly without pretensions with its buzzsaw guitars and splendidly cheesy Hammond/Farfisa organ sound. Basic to the point of primitivism and coming across as the missing link between the Standells and the Ramones, this is cool and refreshing (metaphorically speaking - we're not talking toothpaste here). "Yeeah, an' ah'm high on drugs" slurs the singer, convincingly, during the chorus of its finest moment. Pass the pethedine charge nurse. [(J. Maple]

Baby Sue Music Review