Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

AMG Review of Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

Brian Christopher Egan
All Music Guide

Likely their darkest album, Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is another solid effort that takes the form of a tragic rock opera about a doomed, midwestern alcoholic. While the joylessness of this concept wears a bit thin over the course of the 13 tracks, the songwriting is compelling enough to make it fly. Punk rave-ups ("The Hard Way" and "Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge") and accoustic strummers ("When She Turns 50" and "How Loft I Am?") are equally capable in the evocation of the emotions of guilt, hopelessness, and forgotten innocence that pervade the album.