LOCK THE SKULL, LOAD THE GUN

This jump-cut montage of 30 DIY videos, plus a tour video, provides a few hints of how on fire the LA noise punk band can be, even playing in a downstairs bathroom for a crowd of six paying customers. There are flashes of Ezra, writhing spasmodically to a electrified wire of a beat, as he screeches out verses about vampires, werewolves, errant dolphins and Hieronymous Bosch. You get brief glimpses of the brothers Byron, Tim sardonically laying back on bass as Jeff pounds and flails and pogos on guitar. You catch a few strobe-lit revelations of Brad Breeck, sticks bouncing up to neck level, head jerking side to side in time, frantic-ness frozen in stop-motion time. But mostly what you get here are filmed and animated interpretations of the Mae Shi's Terrorbird album, and an intermittently entertaining road movie that shows, among other things, Jeff Byron lighting a firecracker in his mouth. There's no conventional, continuous footage of what looks like a fantastic live band playing, but then, the Mae Shi have never done a conventional, continuous things in their lives. (www.popmatters.com)