This is Gary Floyd, the lungs behind the great Dicks and Sister Double Happiness. He's got one of the most powerful and expressive voices to wrap itself around punk rock in the last 20 years. Think of a big, gay, bearded Janis Joplin screaming about cops and Hinduism and other nifty things and you're getting warm. For the last few years, Gary's been releasing acoustic solo albums on European labels, and this LP marks his return to both a rock band and a U.S. label. I was excited to get this because I saw Black Kali Ma live and thought they were great. Unfortunately, under the cold digital glare of this CD, they comes off a little flat and, dare I say, dated. The best songs -- "Movin' On" (on which Floyd laments about recent hate crimes against blacks and gays; "He was only 5'2"/Hey tough guys what could he do to you") and the raunchy "Shakin' the Stick" are missing the righteous indignation and nasty glee they possessed in the live context. At times, this stuff sounds like an L.A. metal/blues band like Guns N' Roses with a really good singer; sometimes it sounds like a bad night at the Off Ramp circa '93. I don't know, I'm going to listen to it again and try to find more to like, but dammit, I shouldn't have to.