Why it took three years between their debut and
Freakshow is anyone's guess -- perhaps these things are better left for a documentary-length special on the band -- but
Freakshow alters things a bit stylistically when compared to their first record. Many things have remained the same: the blues-driven, scale shredding guitar work, lyrics that would make Keats spin in his grave, and of course, the obligatory odes to feminine charm ("Do Me Raw," "Goodgirl," and "Huge") all remain constant bulletpoints (no pun intended) that keep the boys strong rockers. But unlike their first album, things do get to be more a bit on the serious side at points, and this is where the album begins to lose its charm. While the band would continue to release records, this would be their last for Warner Brothers, perhaps a reaction to the serious and sensitive music movement that was brewing on the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast around that time. Whatever the reasoning may be, this was their last solid album, as what followed in their career was merely a rehash of the latest music trends of the moment, with trace elements lurking here and there of what made
the Bulletboys so fun to begin with. ~ Rob Theakston