Sing Sing Death House, the Distillers' second album, is an incredible storm of punk rock fury. Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz once called frontwoman Brody Armstrong's voice a "gravel truck with a broken axel," and his compliment isn't far from truth. The Australian native has a set of pipes on par with Joan Jett, Courtney Love (during Hole's Pretty on the Inside era) and Gits frontwoman Mia Zapata, as she growls like a rabid dog and sings like she survives on whiskey and cigarettes. Her lyrical material is just as rough, as Armstrong uses her songs to relive a past riddled with problems--but in place of self-pity is an enormously forceful resolve to kick down whatever walls stand before her. Between Armstrong's guttural screams and the band's razor sharp hooks, there isn't a weak spot in all 12 songs. Although the band sometimes races into fierce hardcore snarls, most of the album consists of musically upbeat anthems, so even if the song's issues are turbulent, there's a punk army optimism lining every dark cloud. For fans of intensely commanding female singers and solid, old school punk rock, the Distillers provide an excellent album through and through. --Jennifer Maerz