(Steel Cage)

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King of the punks, Jeff Dahl, returns with his most hard rockin' album to date in the form of Street Fighting Reptile. Though every bit as rugged and raw as its numerous predecessors, Street Fighting Reptile is a leaner, meaner album that finds Dahl wallowing thick in the Mott/Faces/Lou Reed sound he so often experiments with. Less punk and more rock is the motto here, yet the album loses none of its edge as a result.

On tracks like "Trans-Sister" and "Destination Blackout," Dahl retains every bit of the axe-slinger glory he brought to bands like the Angry Samoans and Powertrip. Yet he branches out here too and on cuts like "Road To Madrid," gets downright sentimental. Mainly though, it's sleazy, riff-driven guitar rock and Dahl knows this genre like the back of his hand. "Deathrattle Shake," "Better Days," and "Transvestites, Transsexuals and Chicks with Dicks," are classic Dahl gutter anthems, yet feature a bit more groove and strut than his usual in your face approach.

Growing older, wiser and more mature, possibly? Yeah, maybe. But likely, after making like 25 albums over the last two decades, he's just flexing his muscles and stretching a bit. Nothing wrong with that, right, as long as it still rocks. And it does… rest assured…

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