**1/2 The Humpers

EUPHORIA, CONFUSION, ANGER AND REMORSE

(Epitaph)

Mean as hell and proud torchbearers of a scorched-earth LA lineage that includes the unheralded (Lazy Cowgirls) and the influential (X), this Long Beach quintet's hedonistic bounce ain't changed much since 1992's Positively Sick on 4th Street. On their new 12-song travelogue through the four stages of drunkenness, frontman Scott Drake describes day-job fantasies ("Fucking Secretaries"), spouts urban philosophy ("Shortcut to Nowhere," "Steel-Toed Sneakers"), and narrates thematic variations on rock's liberating power. Whether he's crawling in the gutter ("Ten Inches Higher") or sympathizing with the Devil ("Devil's Magic Pants"), Drake's band have got him covered with fiery garage-punk riffs and rhythms that give the vocalist room to roam in a guise that occasionally recalls Circle Jerk Keith Morris. Augmenting the line-up with Claw Hammer contributor Andy Kaulkin (organ, piano) and a sax player provides Euphoria's most ambitious moments, as the Humpers revel in gutbucket R&B ("Peggy Sue Got Buried") and burly, MC5-ish glam ("No Escape"). They've fallen down so many times they can't get up, but the Humpers wouldn't have it any other way.

-- Mark Woodlief