THE ONION, May 1997
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              American Psycho (Geffen)
 
              On paper, it sounds like a loathesome sellout, or
              at least a cruel hoax: The two remaining
              members of the legendary horror-punk band
              Misfits have won the legal rights to the name
              from former frontman Glenn Danzig. Once
              that mission was complete (in 1995), the two
              men found a new drummer, as well as a singer
              who sounds more than a little bit like Danzig
              did before he devolved into bloated,
              melodramatic self-parody in the 1990s. And,
              of course, they released their first new studio
              album in 14 years: Titled American Psycho,
              it's got 18 songs full of horror-movie imagery
              and musclebound riffs. Sounds pretty
              exploitative and terrible, doesn't it? But while
              it's bound to be reviled as an example of
              opportunistic grave-robbing--and it does
              seem awfully calculated--it's hard to deny that
              American Psycho is a pretty damn good
              Misfits record. The group does a number of
              things right, but most importantly, it keeps its
              new songs nice and tight; the longest song
              here (the hitworthy "Dig Up Her Bones") runs
              three minutes and one second, while the
              average is about two minutes. Consequently,
              while the ideas and execution are nothing new,
              American Psycho's anthems play out with
              brevity and speed in mind. And it's a hell of a
              lot more fun to listen to than anything Danzig
              has done in ages. Lots of records are better in
              theory than in practice; this one's the other
              way around, and you have to admire the new
              Misfits for pulling that off. --Stephen
              Thompson