Goons of Doom, The Story of Dead Barbie and Ghost

This Australian quintet’s debut full-length is reputed (by them) to have been recorded in only four days, but to have taken eight months to be released, an auspiciously skewed relationship of creative fire to business sense that matches the comical unsavvy of the record itself. Packed with weird inside jokes (“Bikey Zombie Surfin’ Club”), drug-addled anti-songs (“My Song”), and incompetence-on-purpose (take your pick), The Story of Dead Barbie and Ghost doesn’t yield comedic hooks so much as endearing annoyances, like a Dead Milkmen record without the brains. It’s obvious that Dead Barbie won’t earn the Goons a place in the punk pantheon, but they seem to have the right attitude, and when their songwriting develops they may achieve greater importance. Not to ruin the magic, but it might help if they took themselves just a little more seriously, which surely they are capable of doing. Singer Bang Bang Bunny Fang (ugh), for example, speaks at least two languages. Then again, perhaps the low road will serve them better; it would be a shame if the world never saw another song like “The Ass Kisses the Face.”