TV Freaks

How about something a little harder to cap off the month! Yeah! Hamilton, Ontario's TV Freaks typify the awesomeness and diversity of the current Canadian punk scene. These guys are a pure sonic force - walking the fine line between garage and hardcore punk with touches of noise and Stooges filth. The band's latest release, "Leeches", is a three-song 7" just out on the Toronto/Vancouver label Hosehead Records. And it's a total ripper! If you enjoyed the group's previous output, let's just say that "Leeches" shows no signs of any mellowing out! The title track is a bruising assault on the senses - with clanging guitars, throbbing bass lines, and raging vocals that rise to full explosion in the chorus. I'm not quite sure what this dude is singing, but he's hella pissed! The 54-second "Mommy's Place" is pretty much pure '82 hardcore, and "Lose It" brings the EP to a frenzied and ferocious close. "It's not how you win/It's how you lose it!" is about as anthemic of a refrain as you could ever hope to hear, and all in all this track should have you going totally crazy. Grab your morning coffee, pop this EP on the turntable, and get yourself pumped for a day of taking no shit from anyone. TV Freaks kill!



-L.R.

http://hoseheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/leeches-7
http://teeveefreakzz.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HoseheadRecords

Meet The GTVs!

Sam Steinig, who for 19 years led Philly garage greats Mondo Topless, is back with another killer band. The GTVs - featuring Steinig on organ and vocals, Pat Wescott on guitar, Scott Galper on drums, and Jude Dandelion on bass - have just come out with their debut album on the Italian label Teen Sound. And while Steinig's work on the Hammond organ is unmistakable (and marvelous!), The GTVs are by no means a carbon copy of Mondo Topless. The GTVs have more of a Stax soul based sound - think less Sonics and more Booker T and the M.G.s. That requires a hot band to pull off that kind of sound - and these fellas are very much up to the task. Galper and Dandelion are a perfectly in sync rhythm section, and Wescott's solos are out of this world. Yet The GTVs are still very much a true garage band - playing with energy and grit and never allowing their considerable instrumental prowess to devolve into "jamming".

Nearly half of the tracks on Sh'Bang! are instrumentals, and the band's choice of cover material really makes it clear where The GTVs are coming from. They take on Booker T.'s "Be My Lady" (done in the style of The Artwoods' cover version) and The Martinis' 1967 single "Bullseye". They also cover the old Ray Charles favorite "You're Just About To Lose Your Clown" (quite well, I might add!). And while original instrumental selections like "RnBnD" and the dynamite title cut are probably the album's high points, the vocal tracks are no slouch either. "Walk Right Up To You" is a premium shaker that's sure to get you up and dancing, and I hear echoes of The Animals on the soulful ballad "Pull You Down Below".

True to the nature of a band that's best experienced in a live setting, The GTVs aren't trying to wow you with their technical proficiency. Of course they can play, but it's more about having a good time and feeling the groove than it is about showing off. And it's just so much fun! If you loved that slice of '60s garage rock that was heavily influenced by American soul music, Sh'Bang! will take you back to your happy place. As a fan of this very particular genre, I've got to say that The GTVs really nail it. To call them "revivalists" would suggest that this sort of music went away in the first place. I prefer to think of them as keepers of the faith - and they do their musical heroes proud!



-L.R.

http://teensoundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/gtvs-shbang
https://www.facebook.com/TheGTVs
http://thegtvs.com/

Retro Reviews: The Automatics - self titled

"Scurrying from the rain-soaked basements of Portland, Oregon like hyperactive chimps with bad haircuts come The Automatics and their poppy three-chord buzzsaw attack on your brain. Crisp vocals and deep harmonies deliver the goods over a steady wall of guitar grind."
- from the original Mutant Pop one-sheet 

Ah, '90s pop-punk! Either you loved it, or you hated it with a murderous passion. I loved it - and honestly it was the reason I started doing zines in the first place. I recently declared that my holy trinity of '90s pop-punk albums consists of Green Day's Dookie, The Queers' Love Songs for the Retarded, and Screeching Weasel's My Brain Hurts. Perhaps they all seem like safe choices. Fair enough. Assuming that Parasites' Punch Lines is my number four, I'll round out my top five with a less obvious selection. I'm going to go with my favorite band on my favorite '90s pop-punk label: The Automatics. Released in 1996 on Mutant Pop Records, the band's self-titled debut CD seems to be mostly forgotten. But in my humble opinion, it's aged pretty well over the last 18 years. And I can't say the same thing about all the pop-punk releases I touted back in the day.

The Automatics were one of the bands I most frequently and favorably reviewed in the mid-to-late '90s. I sought out their numerous recordings with a zeal I now reserve for German lagers and pastrami sandwiches. There were two things that put this Portland, Oregon trio near the top of the Clinton-era pop-punk class. Number one, they went back to the source for their inspiration. They weren't aping Screeching Weasel or Green Day. They drew their sound largely from the first two Ramones albums – rarely a bad thing in my book. Number two, the two Jesses (Kimball and Sutherland) were exceptionally talented songwriters who understood the perfect simplicity of early rock n' roll. Compared to the typically polished '90s pop-punk offering, The Automatics comes off raw and lo-fi. Rather than obscuring the consistently great songs and hyper-energetic playing, this actually highlights them. The band could have re-cut this album a thousand times in a better studio with a bigger budget, and not once would they have been able to top the minimalist genius of what they already had on tape.

The Automatics is one of those albums that you can just put on, and you've got yourself an instant party. It's total fun from the first note, mixing primal Ramones-ian thump with the harmonies and high spirits of bubblegum (they even cover "Chewy Chewy"!), a dash of Angry Samoans insult comedy, and a dancy garage-pop vibe a la The Hi-Fives. The hooks are all over the place, and the melodies are more infectious than Chlamydia on a college campus. It's a delirious, fast-paced romp, 17 songs whizzing by in well under a half hour. Yet it all comes off with a totally ballsy vocal delivery (something quite rare in the '90s pop-punk specimen), and the tough, scratchy guitars kick way harder than anything that was coming out of Sonic Iguana studios at the time. With song topics ranging from personal dissatisfaction ("My Life Is Shit") to good girls gone bad ("Prom Queen") to old-fashioned misanthropy ("Hate The Human Race") to the ultimate in unattainable females ("She Likes Girls"), there's something here for everyone. "All the Kids Just Wanna Dance" will make you wanna, uh, dance, and "I Can't Cope" is as good of a straight Ramones rip as the Riverdales or Head ever did.

Who knows if you'll ever see this particular disc in your travels? There were probably only a couple thousand of these ever pressed, so it's not like you can just find it anywhere. But if you do find it, given that the whole world has apparently forgotten The Automatics ever existed, it'll probably be tagged for less than five bucks. Money well spent, I say! The Automatics is everything punk music should be: fast, fun, simple, stupid, sometimes in poor taste, and so utterly listenable that you'll wear out the disc before you ever grow tired of it. Let's steal!



-L.R.

Meet Tomy & The Cougars!

Tomy & The Cougars, along with like-minded bands such as Departure Kids, just might be turning Marseille, France into a hotbed of punk/powerpop! Who knew? There must be something in the bouillabaisse! Tomy and the Cougars seem to be crazy for their old Nerves and Beat records, and it's very hard to go wrong with a starting point like that! They've got a new 7" out on Surfin' Ki Records - and it completely won me over in about 15 seconds! These lads mix up a 50/50 blend of classic skinny tie power pop and Exploding Hearts influenced punk, lacing it with their own unique style. I love that Tomy's vocals are distinctly French accented, and his less-than-perfect command of the English language makes the lyrics twice as cool. "Girls think that I'm a woman eater/But it's not the way I look that make me good" has to be my favorite couplet of the year. And hearing a line like "Heartbreakers gonna be heartbreaked/Because I'm not afraid of fear", I can't help thinking that that's the perfect summation of my personal philosophy on life.

No Way Out includes three songs, and they're all dandies. "I Want Go" is probably the hit, propelled by a melody you'll be whistling all day and Lully's hooky guitar leads. It falls somewhere between the Nerves and classic pop/punk bands like The Modernettes. That "Cause you really got to do that" line in the pre-chorus has been stuck in my head all week! The wistful "Swallow My Tears" steps up the Paul Collins worship in a major way, while the bouncy "Run Away" hits me right in my sweet spot - where '77 punk and power pop meet head-on. All in all, super great! 

Kudos to F & L scoutmaster Greg Mongroll for this major find! This band used to be called Tomy & The Cougars With Heart, and the minor name change seems to herald a slight change in sound as well. The more pop direction seems to suit their talents, and of course it suits me just fine! Do they really have a rhythm section made up of guys named Fu and Fel? There's nothing about this band that isn't awesome!



-L.R.

http://tomyandthecougars.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TomyAndTheCougars

Reckless Relations!

Continuing my series of posts on the great Zodiac Killer Records, I've got a real gem here dating back to 2009 (can you believe that's already five years ago?!). The Adjusters were a young band out of Wigan, U.K. that were totally up my alley. Sadly, I missed the boat on these guys while they were still around (they split two years ago). But the good news is that it's never too late to discover awesome music. The Adjusters' debut album Reckless Relations is one of the best things that Zodiac Killer has ever released, and that's really saying something! These kids were all 20-21 years old and totally got it - demonstrating that trashy rock n' roll and Johnny Thunders worship will never go out of style. And it wasn't just that they played the right kind of music. It was that they freaking rocked! Opening track "Drinkin' Red Wine" is as great of a Heartbreakers/Joneses rip as you'll ever hear, and the band injects plenty of its own attitude into the mix (sample lyric: "You're a high class hooker/Just like your mother"). And there's no let-up from there. Led by charismatic vocalist Ash Corner, The Adjusters kinda came off like a younger, snottier Humpers. Reckless Relations is a non-stop romp of sleazy punk rock n' roll with lyrics addressing all the finer things in life: chasing women, getting trashed, and chasing more women. Echoes of the Dead Boys, Stones, and New York Dolls abound, but The Adjusters definitely put their own spin on a classic sound. Whether you're talking about sonic fireballs like "Can't See" or the good old glammy rock n' roll of "Kickin' Down The Doors", Reckless Relations is chock full of killer tunes that will hit the spot whether you're looking to raise hell or just feel like dancing. It's still available from Zodiac Killer on CD, and you can buy it off iTunes or Amazon as well. Definitely one of the better '77 punk rock n' roll albums of the last 5-10 years - go get it! 

Free music player widget at ReverbNation.com

-L.R.

http://www.zodiackillerrecords.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/theadjusterspunknroll

More from Los Pepes!

The "loudest powerpop band on Earth" is back with its third 7"! London's Los Pepes first caught my attention with their half of a recent split with Ladykillers, and now they've got a new EP that just about blew my head off! This band combines kick-ass rock n' roll punk a la The Testors and Nervous Eaters with the hooks and harmonies of classic late '70s U.K. pop/punk. And that added dimension of power really sets these guys apart from a lot of otherwise similar bands. Out on Wanda Records, the four-song "Tonight" is mandatory listening for anyone who prefers the ballsier side of tuneful punk rock. The title track is everything that's good about punk and pop and rock n' roll all rolled into one big ball of awesome. "Too Late, Too Late", with its blistering guitars and fist-pumping chorus, sounds a little like one of the Dictators' classic anthems. The B-side moves more to the power pop side of things and could probably pass for an artifact from the Good Vibrations Records vaults. "Somebody Else" is pretty much the perfect power pop song. It's SO good! It sounds like it could be a cover of some obscure single from 1979, but as far as I know it's an original!

If you're currently unfamiliar with Los Pepes, head on over to their Bandcamp and listen to everything they've done! Even at this time when there are a ton of good bands doing punk/powerpop, these guys really stand out. Please tell me there's an album in the works!



-L.R.

http://lospepes.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lospepesmusic

Monster Surf!

Today Night Birds join the short list of bands that have been featured five times on this blog. This entitles them to quite the array of prizes - including a complete set of F & L beach towels, a case of WWE ice cream bars, two dozen collectable golden medallions bearing the images of various Fastbacks drummers, and a year's supply of puffy shirts. And while their entry into this exclusive five-timers club indicates that they've been putting out a healthy amount of music in recent years, to me it's more about the quality of their output. At no point have Night Birds settled for repeats of previous releases. They're always pushing themselves to be more awesome. With every new record, they offer something new or different or unexpected. New EP Monster Surf totally fits that description. If you're a fan, you're sure to love it. But in no way has the band done a record quite like this before.

The idea behind Monster Surf is genius. Since Night Birds have always included surf instrumentals on their records and in their live set, wouldn't it be kind of cool if they did an entire EP of nothing but surf instrumentals? Absolutely! So here it is - out on Wallride Records. And it does not disappoint! One thing I've always admired about Night Birds is that their instrumentals are something to look forward to. They're not "filler". When you hear them do an instrumental track, your reaction isn't "I wish this song had vocals." It's more along the lines of "This freaking rules!" Perhaps the only concern you could have about this EP is that it seems a waste to have one of punk rock's greatest front men riding the pine. But while Brian does step away from the microphone on this release, he moves over to synthesizer duties and really adds something cool to the mix. Joe and P.J. have worked up three original instrumentals along with a killer arrangement of "Hope For The Best (Expect The Worst)" from the classic Mel Brooks film The 12 Chairs. Listening to this EP, I'm really struck by Night Birds' chemistry and musical skill. P.J. tears it up on guitar, and that rhythm section gets to show off chops that are sometimes obscured by the sheer velocity of the band's "regular" attack. And the addition of horns is a neat touch. I've never been surfing, but "Pyongyang Bound" makes me feel like I actually have. I can practically smell the ocean. "Agent Zero", on the other hand, has me picturing Snake Plissken surfing a tsunami in Escape From L.A. "Hope For The Best (Expect The Worst)" is immediately recognizable, yet somehow these guys make it sound like it was written to be a surf song! Hopefully this record will inspire a few people to check out The 12 Chairs - one of Brooks' best and most underrated films. If Night Birds ever did a full album of Mel Brooks covers, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. I bet they could knock "Springtime For Hitler" out of the park.

Whether you're a hardcore Night Birds fan (pun fully intended) or just a lover of surf rock in general, Monster Surf is a mandatory purchase. And if for whatever reason you're morally opposed to instrumentals, you'll be happy to hear that Night Birds are writing new material and preparing to invade Europe this summer. Don't these guys ever rest?!



-L.R.

http://wallriderecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NGHTBRDS
http://night-birds.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wallride-Records/51066090055