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Hungry for Stink is the fourth studio album from grunge/heavy metal/punk band L7.
While Bricks are Heavy showcased a blistering grungy punk-infused metal sound, L7 followed that album up with a more dark and sludgy offering in the form of Hungry for Stink. The band still serves up aggressive no-nonsense punk metal, but there is more of a focus on sludgy dirges and darker atmosphere. A good comparison would be My War/Slip It in-era Black Flag and UltraMegaOK-era Soundgarden.
Once again Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, and Jennifer Finch all contribute lead vocals on some of the songs. As opposed to "One More Thing" from the previous album, Finch does lead vocals on two of the most aggressive songs this time around. These are "The Bomb" and "Shirley", which are two of my favorites. Just take a listen to those lyrics on "The Bomb", now that's what I call rebellious punk metal. The aforementioned songs as well as another favorite of mine, "Freak Magnet", of course also have some killer razor-sharp riffs to back up the vocal attack.
All these tracks have that take-no-bullshit attitude that is part of what made Bricks are Heavy such a masterpiece. Many of the songs are much darker and more sludgy though, with some of them being killer tracks as well. "Baggage" is one of these, definitely misanthropic sludge metal at it's best. The haunting finale "Talk Box" is also a highlight. However, I don't think all of the songs of this sound have the same lasting effect as the songs with more attitude.
While I think the album could have done with more punk metal songs, Hungry for Stink is still a killer album. It's certainly an album for a darker mood, to sit alongside grunge albums more in the vein of Alice in Chains. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!