Combine and their Caroline debut, "Norfolk, VA", typifies the sleazy, freaky side of the city and the "hmming" of Church Street. Representing the "east coasty" style of weird and weirder, lead singer Brian Pafumi rumbles a raspy voice into topics of hermaphrodites, black whores, and getting high on asthma medicine. But its also for the college kid who takes a new route to Old Dominion every semester, thanks to "alternative radio." If you wonder why Cogan's only put "FRI DEXTER" on their billboard, it is for you, too. And if you didn't wonder, its for you, too.

Live, on-stage at King's Head, Combine is as powerful as the Circle Jerks playing "Golden Shower of Hits" at the 9:30 Club. Plus, Pafumi could sing any Superchunk cut and possibly lives the life of "Slack Motherfucker," especially with that nasty rat's nest of a hair cut. Interacting with Brian's guitar and throat are the thick strings of dirty dreaded Darryl Lewis and the fills of Juan Corbett's simple drum set - similar drummer Troy Mowat from Seven Seconds.

"Norfolk, VA" is abrasive, as evident on the opener "All Tore Up," which is also the album's most accessible cut. Upon reaching the fifth song, "Ephidrine," Pafumi's madder-than-John-Lydon voice gets a little baked. Not until the second to last cut, "Ambivilent," do they mix a distorted megaphone vocal mix. Though all seems pure, the talent of Lewis' bass playing isn't captured like a live show. But then again, "Norfolk,VA" wasn't suppose to be a funk album as much as an indie-grit one. And that it is.

By the way, two of the mentioned song titles are spelled incorrectly.

Reviewer:  Bonn Garrett, courtesy of Flash Magazine.