In a genre as confined by concept as punk rock, it's tough to avoid revisiting territory covered by bands which have previously staked their claims in the annals of music history. Avoiding such pitfalls and pushing the envelope just a bit further is just what the McRackins manage to do with What Came First?. Although the band borrows some concepts from their fellow punksters (including the sharing of the last name "McRackin" among all its members), it hasn't adopted British accents and it doesn't retread the same song over and over again by inverting the chord structure. Each song on What Came First? is its own special little gem - sometimes fabulously absurd ("Which Came First?"), sometimes brazenly insipid ("Slap The Monkey"), but always true to the cause and memorable from the first listen. "Look Who's Laughin' Now" is a tale of a summer betrayal accompanied by irresistible riffs and furious rhythms, while "Forget Me Not" recalls what the early Cars were all about before Roy Thomas Baker (Journey, Queen) got ahold of them - solid, raw, flat-out hookrock. More punk par excellence: "1-900-5437," "Crank It Up" and the Gordon Lightfoot tune "Bittergreen."

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