Deftones/Contra Hearings

Deftones "U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, A, B, Select Start"

Despite a slight connection to the now defunct (thank christ) rap-rock mook-metal scene, I have always like the Deftones. Their wall of crunching guitars soupled with swooning almost Mozzer style vocals has always appealed to me. This is why I will continue to buy their records, albeit only from the used bin, where they seem to appear a lot these days.

Their latest offering, 2006's Saturday Night Wrist moves along like a freight train out of control, with only Chino Moreno's slightly subdued vocals keeping it on the tracks. The sole instrumental on the record "U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, A, B, Select Start" is a pretty little number whose title comes from the cheat code for Nintendo's Contra, which every single male of my age group has committed to memory for life. In a related story, apparently ABBA got their name from the cheat code for Ikari Warriors.