This Phoenix band has been kicking around for about fifteen years. That’s a long road to hoe on a local circuit without national recognition. Revising History probably won’t change the band’s stature---they’ll have to just keep hacking away and waiting for the world to catch on. The main thing the boys have going for them is their leader, singer Mike Pistrui. Pistrui is blessed with a unique voice; a voice that is instantly recognizable and a voice that should be floating on the popular airwave. His vocals sound like a suave Burton Cummings (the Guess Who) one minute and a slightly psycho Fee Waybill (the Tubes) the next, all set to an arrangement that recalls Queensryche. The band is also good at using musical metaphor, closing out “Move Along” with scratching guitar and drums to simulate the ticking off of precious time. Elsewhere short bursts of electric guitar well up like emotions ready to explode, most notably on the look-over-your-shoulder “Ongoing Criminal Investigation.” If there is any complaint with this record, it’s that the songs tend to sound a bit similar as the disc progresses. They’re not by any means experimental, but Beats the Hell out of Me sit just outside the expected, leaving them in that grey area on the fringe of mass success.
 

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