Just when I had convinced myself that Motrhead was the Alpha and Omega of hard rock, along comes the implacable force of nature that is Jesus Lizard to remind me that there are 22 other letters in the Greek alphabet. Lash is a six-song EP, and as such things go, it's the quickie rip-off you'd expect. But in the case of Jesus Lizard, a band whose sound can be a lot more abrasive than most punk, an EP provides a good cheap alternative for the curious who may want to test the waters without wallowing in the filth. These songs are closer to straight ahead rock than much of the Lizard's previous output, and lead bellowing David Yow's vocals have finally crossed into intelligibility. Two of the songs are new studio numbers. The remaining four are live and feature more of the band's wall-of-guitar signature. Two were recorded in Boston a few days before I first saw this band at the Cradle (opening for Sonic Youth in November 1990). For what it's worth, they whipped Sonic Youth liked a yard dog.