Wow. If you like super catchy garage/power pop music, this will light you right up. Makes me think of GENTLEMAN JESSE, MYSTERY DATE, and SONIC AVENUES. Nicely produced, which, for me, means it’s done well, but not at all overdone. You can really feel the energy of the band through the record. That’s not always true. Really, an excellent record.
The sound (and possibly the smell) of a midsummer show in a punk house living room; pop sensibilities played through a second-rate amp. The lyrics have the reflective melancholy of JAWBREAKER, but with music closer to AD/DC or JACK PALANCE BAND. CIGARETTE CAMP produces the hooks and minimalist harmonies needed to make this genre work. Fans of this end of punk should take note.
I’ve been a huge fan of Michelle Shirelle since her days in the STEINWAYS, and on her latest output, fronting a three-piece band out of NYC, she delivers the goods yet again. Michelle did excellent work on the debut LP from SCRAPPED PLANS last year, a sort of pop punk supergroup with members of the MURDERBURGERS and the ERGS!, but where that leaned into guitar-driven modern punk, here she takes it down a notch and injects a very indie pop vibe into the proceedings (think CUB or GO SAILOR). Four tracks of bouncy pop punk with very catchy melodies tossed between sardonic and sweet-sounding vocals, the whole tape flies by and leaves you wanting more. There’s a note from Michelle in the insert accompanying the tape talking about how when this was recorded, she was dealing with her cat having a pretty stressful health emergency, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from listening to this—it just puts you in a good mood and makes you tap your foot. This kind of stuff can come across as disposable or forgettable, but the band does a great job of making this stand out and be worth your time. Get it if you’re out there fiending for melody.
The HEAVY LAG half of this split LP was recorded by Jeff Burke of MARKED MEN and RADIOACTIVITY, which was a perfect choice by the band for their razor-sharp guitars and relentless rhythm section. I can hear some of Burke’s influence on the songs, and that is a total compliment. It’s what you want when you go with a well-traveled, experienced engineer in the studio—you could hear it on the band’s last album (Another Year Closer to Whatever) recorded by the BOUNCING SOULS’ Pete Steinkopf. The BAD CRIME half was recorded in their hometown of Milwaukee. They share the spirit and same endearing, lo-fi “wheels falling off” appeal of fellow Brew City punks MODERN MACHINES.
This Brooklyn crew cranks through five angsty tracks that equally have the focused intensity of DILLINGER FOUR or MARKED MEN and the pop and spark of SQUIRTGUN mixed with the spirit of MEAN JEANS. “That Girl” and “Sleep/Wake” rip with the distorted energy and fuzzed vocals of early F.Y.P that feels unrestrained in its enthusiasm. Tracks like “Hüsker Døn’t” and “I Don’t Wanna Be Around (You)” prove the band can write melodies with bite in a Greg Sage/WIPERS kind of way.
Straight out of the gates, HEDGE starts kicking you in the chest with a catchy tune that builds on all the better melodic bands from the late ’80s and ’90s. Imagine the first time you heard MOVING TARGETS, RADON, the LEMONHEADS (Hate Your Friends to Lick, none of that solo Dando crud), TILTWHEEL, middle-period HÜSKER DÜ, and even JR. JUGGERNAUT. This record has a comfortable and familiar sound while retaining its newness, entwined in well-crafted and memorable songs.
A vinyl reissue of an album that was originally released on CD in 2000. MINORITY BLUES BAND kicks things off with five songs that are firmly rooted in punk but have underlying emo tendencies, with songs sung in English and their native Japanese. At times there’s a heavy CAP’N JAZZ vibe, albeit more in-tune and angry with a more controlled chaos. 1000 TRAVELS OF JAWAHARLAL are definitely holding it down with more of the same type of vibe as their comrades, but whereas MINORITY BLUES BAND is a bit more rooted in punk, I’d argue that JAWAHARLAL are screamo to the core. All in all, this is a great split and I for one am a huge fan of the split LP format, so the fact that this finally has seen a vinyl release is perfect.
The A-side is the Pooched LP and the B-side is the Tercel LP, so two LPs on one LP which is an LP/LP, I guess. First, I’m a sucker for a dog on a record cover, and this dog looks like he’s into being pet upon, and also aloof a little bit, and fine to do its own thing. I bet this pooch twitches and squeaks a lot when it is dreaming about an open field or jumping at butterflies or whatever. Musically, this falls in line with all of the New York and New Jersey pop punk greats like UNLOVABLES, SHORT ATTENTION, the MEASURE, the ERGS!, and so on. These songs that span four years of the band’s existence are all crafted wonderfully and are masterfully unforgettable in a memorable and hummable way. You’ll have these tunes in your brain for days, similar to all of the best FASTBACKS songs.
This record is brought to you by a sort of pop punk supergroup featuring Grath Madden (the STEINWAYS, ROBOT BACHELOR, etc.), Michelle Shirelle (the STEINWAYS, HASTY), Fraser Murderburger (the MURDERBURGERS, WRONG LIFE, the PHASE PROBLEM), Kieron Jordan (DON BLAKE), and, of course, Mikey Erg (every other band on the planet). The TL;DR story here is that this sounds like a deliciously balanced mix of the STEINWAYS and the MURDERBURGERS, but that simplification would betray the quality of this project. Two pillars hold this up: songcraft of the highest order by people who love the melodic side of punk rock so fucking much, and the fun they probably had making this record. The songs sound like they just came together with clever hooks and catchy melodies out of an epic hangout session, which from what I’ve read is kind of what happened. Standout tracks for me are the ones that spotlight Michelle Shirelle (one full-band and one acoustic), but as a long-time enjoyer of the work of everyone in this band, this was tailor-made for me.
To me, this sounds like DEAD TO ME meets MARKED MEN with vocals sung in Swedish. Pretty good. It’s catchy, kinda lo-fi sounding, toe-tappin’ stuff. Definitely worth a spin or two!
For 25 years, this Japanese act has been cranking out power pop with a punk crunch, and while not a hair is out of place on their seventh album, I wish it weren’t such a tidy affair. The facile guitar leads that dot these tracks don’t do much to boost them and the hooks just don’t grab me like others working in the genre. That isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with this music, but that’s sort of the point. It’s polished to a point of diminishing returns. Pop songs can sound too calculated, and that’s exactly what happened here. They even straight up steal the lead from BLONDIE’s “Dreaming” in the track “Talking to My Heart,” and that’s about the most brazen move they make. That’s not to say there isn’t heart and craft on display, it just ultimately doesn’t grab me.
Debut full-length from this Minneapolis quartet that at its core has the working-class realism of the ARRIVALS and AMERICAN STEEL. Lyrics that are equally dead serious and tongue-in-cheek; angsty and optimistic. There is an element of urgency and that almost slightly out-of-control feeling as they crash through the ten tracks in a short twenty-six minutes, particularly on the track “Cure-All” when bassist Morgan Purcell takes over vocals. The mastering by MARKED MEN’s Jeff Burke adds to the punch. Also telling is the young band getting an invite to play the Recess Romp this year at the Sardine. The band is relatively new but has the feel of well-worn sounds from earlier times, particularly the first few albums from fellow Minneapolitans HÜSKER DÜ and the REPLACEMENTS.
