The opening line says it all. “Eminem’s got to cuss in his raps to sell records/ Well me too.” Curse yes, but the Bloodhound Gang’s Jimmy Pop might add he also seemingly has to proliferate his records with crude sexual referencing and toilet humour – literally toilet humour. ‘Diarrhea Runs In The Family’ features the recording of one of the group members taking a dump. I shit you not.
We expect this sort of juvenile antics though from a band whose previous record was entitled Hooray For Boobies. The song titles alone on their latest record are warning enough of what lurks within. Try on ‘Balls Out’, ‘Farting With A Walkman On’ and ‘Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo’ for size. If those alone float your boat, then this is a record for you.
There’s plenty more. Porn references, bad ‘80s synth music and middle American pop punk dominate Hefty Fine. A lot of it we’ve heard before and the Bloodhound Gang’s only original initiative is to take the stale formulaic genre and plunge it through new depths of filth. There’s the occasional snigger had for sure. But, while such images of filth may work in dumb teenage American comedies, it doesn’t translate to record.
What you’re left with is a boring, and on all counts, deeply offensive record about fucking. Were they anyway clever Jimmy Pop and co may have made this work on some level but Hefty Fine is so dumb it’s sickening. An awful record that possesses absolutely no redeeming qualities.
Mind bogglingly, the Pennsylvanians spent five years making this record. Five years! Someone somewhere is really having a laugh.