from the Chicago Flame (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 1995

Kisses 50 Cents
The Bad Examples
Waterdog Records
(3 stars)

For those fans into homegrown rock and roll, the Bad Examples are probably already familiar to you: they have been familiar to Chicagoland since their debut six albums ago, when they were voted WXRT Chicago Band of the Year. Since then, they have increased their audience base many times. If you've ever seen them in concert, you know why: they play smart, straightforward rock, and they don't quit until they're good and ready.

The band is fronted by Ralph Covert, who writes intelligent and catchy songs, which is not always an easy thing to do. He is supported on guitar by Steve Gerlach, who also takes vocals on a few of their numbers. Pickles Piekarski on bass and drummer Terry Wathen set a solid foundation for the sound of the Bad Examples. They recently played a show at the Cubby Bear Lounge, debuting this album, and fans turned out in big numbers to hear them.

Some of the best songs on this album include "Every Poet Wants to Murder Shakespeare," "Man Underwater" and "Me and My Near-Blind Hindsight." They demonstrate their wit on such songs as "Trying to Prove the Earth Is Flat" and "The Mask of Mona Lisa."

This album has good flow from start to finish, and the lyrics (as always) are not third-grade poetry.

-Dan Sheahan