Out of the same town that brought you Stevie Ray Vaughn and One Bad Pig comes Lust Control. This is some punky thrash stuff you gotta hear! This tape is so fun! The music is real fast in some places and just plain quirky in others. The lyrics are very confrontational. The tape title, This Is a Condom Nation, and the band's name let you know where they stand, as far as sexual sin goes. Maybe they'll tour with Josh McDowell on his "No - The Positive Answer" tour. The tape starts off with "Grace," a crunchy fast song that is occasionally interrupted by the simple verse of, "Grace!" The chorus consists of the sentence, "I'm saved by grace," repeated 14 times. This 10-song tape ends with a reprise of "Grace," which creates a nice balanced framework around your basic "letter of the law" and "repent buddy!" lyrics typically found in this genre. "Rude Awakening" is the next song, which is aptly titled. "Repent/ You've gotta change/ There's this big problem in your life/ and it's called sin." The music kills! George, the drummer, and Duane, the bass player, lay down a tight rhythm section, which is propelled by Stanley's frantic guitar leads. Gene's banal vocals seem perfect for this screaming/ shouting genre. The next song is a classic. I can't decide which is my favorite: this song; "Mad at the Girls"; or "The Big 'M'." It's called "Madolyn Murry O'Hair (On Judgment Day)," which is what the chorus repeats four times. Repetitive, yet smokin' music with the repetitive message of "turn or burn." Check out these lyrics: "Some people are so filled with hate/ For some people it's just too late/ Hitler is your new roommate." "Apocalyptic Nightmare" makes a departure from the rest of the material. It's a way-out song that proves that some Christians still do drugs (Just kidding!). It starts out with some bizarre, Jimi Hendrix/ Pink Floyd-type meanderings and features a talking piece: "...We can't picture tribulation/ Let's invent the rapture/ and escape it all/ But wait! What did the wounded Messiah say? (The noise stops here and Gene shouts the chorus.) You will suffer too/ You will suffer too/ You will suffer too/ Just like Me!" Side two features two back-to-back Lust Control songs (literally). "Mad at the Girls" starts off with a real cool, bluesy bass riff and tells the story of a guy working at a mall and being attacked with lustful thoughts when the schoolgirls waltz inside. This guy responds with, "I'm mad at the girls/ with their sexy smiles/ Mad at the girls/ mini-skirts are back in style/ I want to control my lust/ But my mind I cannot trust/ I'm mad at the girls/ Mad at the girls/ I'm mad at myself!" "The Big 'M'" will probably win the Heaven's Metal award for the most controversial song of the year. It tackles an issue that's apparently been untouched in all of Christian music: masturbation. The song has a weird, funky beat, not too unlike Adam Again, and an outrageous gang-vocal chorus of "Masturbation! - Is artificial sex." George's snappy drumming sounds great here, accenting Duane's groovy bass line, which stops suddenly for shouts of "Forget it! Get real!! It's artificial sex," and "...Take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ." The entire tape has a real raw, live sound. Overall, it has above-average production for a thrash-type project. The vocals are pretty easy to understand, but definitely retain that underground style. For example, there's an off-key yodel at the end of "Madolyn Murry O'Hair" that makes you cringe and laugh at the same time. "You Make Me Puke," another glamorous song title, drives home a powerful message from Revelation 3:18, that being lukewarm will get yourself spewed out of God's mouth. "You're not cold, you're not hot/ You don't know who you are/ But I know what you're not/ You make Me puke!" It's a totally gnarly song, very similar to One Bad Pig, early Undercover, and Eric Blair. The last song on the tape is an old hymn, called "There Is a Fountain." It's a very metal-ish song, with a real heavy, plodding rhythm, similar to Black Sabbath's early stuff, like "Iron Man." Really! It's even got your talk about blood and screaming, followed by a dramatic chant of "guilty," before it goes into the "Grace" reprise. This tape is hot. After listening to it for the first time, One Bad Pig's Kosher was blown away. "I'd love for our band to open up for Lust Control anytime." To order This Is a Condom Nation, a statement which is unfortunately true, send $7.00 to: Lust Control, PO Box 180981, Austin TX 78718-0981. Their press release indicates that there are no photos of the band, they don't do interviews and they don't play live. What a shame. I bet they'd put on a great show.