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Fifteen
Survivor
The political zeal and social conscience of Fifteen is unquestionably without peer. A flip through the lyric book now reads like the cheaters' notes to a Noam Chomsky lecture. Politcally vibrant. Gnawing at the tenuous social fabric. That said, Jeff Ott's songwriting has grown to include thorny pop hooks, quasi-metal riffing, and an unrepentant humor when the mood fits. Like the shoplifted chorus of 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" to reinforce the sick tale of child abuse in the title track. Or the sarcastic poke he levels at hardcore followers that drape themselves in misogyny and homophobia as fashion in "Punk Song." Now at 30, Ott finds himself in a unique position. Father of a teenage daughter, sober for over half a decade, raging against those social plagues nurtured by the generation before him and to be (hopefully) resolved by the one following. Some of this is hard to listen to, only because the problems are difficult to ponder. My guess: when the dust clears, Ott will still be standing. –ml kilgore (Sub City, P.O. Box 7495, Van Nuys, CA 91409)
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