Speedealer - Speedealer (LP)

All Music Guide

Originally released on the defunct Royalty label under the moniker REO Speedealer, this self-titled album -- not the band's first, which was yet another self-titled number on yet another defunct label -- rips and snorts for a brief, fiery 20 minutes. That's 15 songs in those brief, fiery 20 minutes. Consistent with its name, Speedealer takes the hyper-speed, out-of-control fury of early American hardcore and welds it with the essential tenets of hard rock and early metal -- blistering leads, chunky riffs. On top of that, the band adds a liberal dosage of peculiar guitar signatures, the kind of scratchy, odd-toned warbles favored by Butthole Surfer Paul Leary. In fact, Speedealer's Texas home base of Dallas is not far removed from Austin, which has long been a hotbed of strange, beautiful rock roll. Speedealer is a quick ride, but it bulls through with power and plenty of micro-monster riffs.

- Patrick Kennedy, All Music Guide