This spirited debut from Chuck Mosley and company has a deliberate rawness and subtle humor that listeners might expect from the ex-Faith No More vocalist. More metallic numbers like "Prison Love" set this 1993 release apart from Cement's sprawling, sometimes aimless, 1994 follow-up, The Man With the Action Hair -- although the noodling of "I Feel" does suggests the freehand half-funk of the band's sophomore disc. Like fellow '90s freak rockers Life, Sex & Death, Cement combine polished, heavy groove rock bordering on metal with outlandish, even bizarre, vocal performances. The lyrical content of Cement leans toward the primal or sometimes farcical to generally good results. Tracks like the Wesley Willis-reminiscent "Shout" seem to celebrate aimlessness with an exalted incoherence that can sound amateur at first, but clarify with more listening into witty celebrations of rock's expressive purity. Fans of Mosley-era Faith No More and Bad Brains should check out this self-titled debut to get a taste of Cement's peculiar hard rock, but listeners looking for something even more adventurous might want to consider The Man With the Action Hair first. Either way, Cement's punch-drunk shamanism via progressive garage rock shouldn't disappoint. ~ Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide
