Reviews

Rude Television Distractions cassette

I miss my Tascam. There is something totally different about how you approach recording music with limitations, whereas if you start using a DAW, you can get lost in the options. This tape exemplifies what you can do with a point of view, the ability to play multiple instruments, and capable yet not limitless technology. The results are laser-focused bedroom punk with a synth-y undercurrent. It would be easy to compare this to R.M.F.C. and it has its similarities, but this project has its own voice that is snotty and fun in all the right ways. It has its debt owed to the DEAD MILKMEN as well, at least vocally, but what is impressive is how varied the sound is from cut to cut. This isn’t some homogeneous same-y six tracks of “been there, done that” bedroom punk. The songwriting is solid, the rhythm tight and right on, and there’s just the right amount of fuzz and echo to sell you on the authenticity of it all. Spaced-out rockers like “Operate” strike on a reptilian level, you simply have to bob your head. Cleaner tone forays into post-punk rhythms, such as on closer “Transformer No. 1,” are just as satisfying, proving the project has legs to walk wherever it wants to next.