Reviews

Fish & Cheap

Jet! Everybody Plays the Game / Hear Me Sheila 7″ reissue

Until about five years ago, JET! was seemingly a complete unknown, nary a footnote in the annals of New Jersey power pop (which is actually New Jersey’s top export as a state, not “chemicals” as the internet may try to make you believe). JET! formed in Toms River, cut two of the greatest power pop 45s ever, and disappeared. Luckily, a NJ collector uncovered a stack of deadstock copies of those two singles, and soon us obsessives got our grubby little hands on copies of our own. And now, the immaculate Fish & Cheap Records continue to do what they do best and get another obscure slab to the masses. “Everybody Plays the Game” and “Here Me Sheila” represent the band’s second single, with the A-side being a little more driving than their first single “Please Mister Radio.” While the decision to be a bit more rocking may have caused the rift in the band that led to their split, they still managed to capture lightning in a second bottle. If you have even a passing interest in punky power pop, all four of their songs are an absolute must, and Fish & Cheap are making it so the sounds aren’t confined to the greasy collectors shelves. With any luck, they’ll give the first release the reissue treatment as well. Get this, now.

Retrospects Shattered / In My Dreams Before 7″

Hey, who is this singer? It’s the dude from the WHITE WIRES. I’m certain of it. Wait, isn’t “Shattered” even one of their songs? It has to be. This sounds so familiar. This is more new wave than it is power pop, so it’s similar, but definitely not the same. And it’s not just the drum machine. Anyway, if you’re a fan of the WHITE WIRES and think you might like to hear a more new wave version of that band, you should give this a shot. I’ve always been a huge fan, so it makes sense to me that I like it.

Terminal Am I Doing It Right / Hold On 7″

Do yourself a favor. Cue up the A-side here, turn up the volume, throw your phone into another room, and allow yourself to take a ride for the next four-and-a-half minutes. This absolutely crucial single from an early ’80s group from North Wales is required listening. It is anthemic, grandiose stuff by kids—and for kids—who were/are too big for whatever town that was chosen for them. There is a SPRINGSTEEN-like desperation at play here. This is what JOHNNY COUGAR’s “I Need a Lover” might have sounded like if he stayed on Gulcher Records, but he was destined for something bigger, just like TERMINAL could have been/should have been/must have been. This reissue represents the A-sides of both of their only two singles, from 1980 and 1982. While “Am I Doing It Right” conveys a beautiful, sophomoric desperation, interestingly enough, the flipside “Hold On” offers up a more mature, darker edge, and more than holds its own at that. The folks over at Fish & Cheap have done the masses a favor digging up these songs once again.

The Tinopeners I Want You​ / I Don’t Wanna Be 7″

This one’s a bit of an oddity, as one side of the 7” seems to be an incomplete track from the band’s only four recordings ever put to tape. Regardless, it’s cool to see this type of archival work in the flow of punk history. Belfast’s the TINOPENERS were short-lived, but “I Don’t Wanna Be” shows they had a solid knack for power pop. It’s hard to really say where they could have gone since they called it quits so young, but this release is worth checking out for punk historians and bop-appreciators alike.