Critical reception
On the album Fight Songs for Fuck-Ups, the Kings of Nuthin' moved away stylistically from the psychobilly of their debut EP in favor of rhythm & blues. Their new recording engineer Jim Siegel made "the big band sound even bigger". [7] The album is described in an AllMusic review as follows: "The mid-20th century roots elements are supplied by the saxes, piano, washboard, and standup bass. The punk comes across in the manic fast tempos, fuzzy guitars, singer Torr's gruff half-or-more grunt-shouted vocals, the hardcore-like trade-offs between the lead singing and backup anthemic choruses, and abrasive lyrics." [2] Punknews.org rated their album four and a half out of five stars, writing that the "songs are all incredibly catchy" and the sound mix of their "hyper-rockabilly style filled with horns, piano and sing-along choruses" is great. [3] The Ox-Fanzine describes an "extremely swinging combination of punk rock from the street, psychobilly and casual-loungy rhythm & blues", played by a complete R&B line-up, as was common in the fifties [5] and Exclaim! generally perceives something special and unique in the combination of the instruments with the smart and sassy songwriting. [8] The Suburban Voice writes: "Like a punk rock version of the Brian Setzer Orchestra on speed". [4] The German punk zine Plastic Bomb writes about the album released on the label of U.S. Bombs singer Duane Peters: "As if the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were playing songs by Little Richard in the style of Brian Setzer. Only twice as fast", "with a crazy mix of rockabilly, swing'n'jive and rudimentary garage punk". [9] Lollipop magazine compares Torr Skoog's voice to those of Dicky Barrett of the Bosstones or Tom Waits and attests to his lyrics' great sense of humor and the band's amazingly authentic way of bringing back the neglected elements of swing. The magazine comes to the conclusion that with "their stellar musicianship and impeccable style, a more perfect album is scarce." [10] For The Nerve it is a modern classic, commenting: "It’s what swing would've sounded like if punk had happened first." [11] No. 13 comes to a similar conclusion: "Kind of like if Bill Haley and The Comets had been Punk Rockers" and considers it one of the best albums of the year. [12]
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