Fun, guitar-heavy rock’n’roll that sounds like Richard Hell if the VOIDOIDS ran their gear through a Boss DS-1 with the distortion turned all the way up. Pretty typical punk affair here—they’re not reinventing the wheel, but it’s a fun jaunt regardless. They even throw in a live track about halfway through, which shows off how tight these folks are outside the studio. You’ll want to give this a spin if you’re a junkie for solid garage rock.
BROKEN BARCODES has nothing groundbreaking here, but oh my golly, is this catchy! I’m certain that their shows are a bunch of pals jumping around and singing along. All the catchiness of the EGRS, STEINWAYS, HOUSEBOAT, DIRT BIKE ANNIE, and LOST LOCKER COMBO. I get the feeling that these guys are best friends and their kids or dogs or cats prolly have play dates together while they play behind a warehouse or at the bass player’s aunt’s retirement party. This is the best way to do pop punk as an adult, wherein you abandon all the songs about crushes (because it gets creepy when you’re no longer under twenty) and dive headfirst into the silly, fun, everyday stuffs. FERAL HOUSECATS, with their terrifying band name, hit just as hard, but they pull their silliness from late ’70s and early ’80s Ohio à la DEVO-esque B-sides, RUBBER CITY REBELS, PAGANS, or BALONEY HEADS. FERAL HOUSECATS, still a very terrifying name, continue to impress with a charming, inept quality that is almost hypnotic and always on the cusp of falling apart. Both of these bands complement each other very well, and I wish there was a way I could make them my friends and make them want to drive to Northern Michigan and play in a forest near me for the squirrels and deers and me and such.
