The Sorels - self titled debut EP

What could be more exciting than a double debut?! This one in particular is worthy of an international celebration! Here we have the debut 7" from Winnipeg glam rock and roll trio The Sorels as well as the first-ever release from exciting new label Reta Records. This single is a co-release with the always fantastic Surfin' Ki Records, so you ought to know to expect something pretty great! The Sorels immediately become my favorite band from Winnipeg and perhaps even all of central Canada! "She's In The Gang" is an instant smash of '60s girl group pop by way of the Ramones and New York Dolls. I can't get this song out of my head, and I wouldn't want to even if I could! It's got an infectious beat, a whole lot of rockin' lead guitar, an irresistible sing-along hook, and even some killer piano to boot. And how about that bad-ass lead vocal?! This is just great rock and roll that follows in the footsteps of everyone from the Shangri-Las to The Runaways to the Bobbyteens to Baby Shakes to The Shanghais. It's certainly right at home on the Surfin' Ki roster, and it also gives you a great idea of what Reta Records is going to be all about! On the flip, "School Girl Blues" is more of a straight-up glam rocker with a ton of swagger and riffs for days. If you dig Suzi Quatro or more recent bands like BBQT and Furies, you're gonna flip for this one! This single leaves me wanting more - from both The Sorels and Reta Records! Official release date is on Wednesday, so hop on over to the Reta Records Bandcamp page or the Surfin' Ki store if you'd like to reserve a copy on blue or transparent red vinyl. No dilly-dallying, kids. This thing is gonna go FAST!

 
-L.R.

https://retarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-sorels 
http://surfinkirecords.bigcartel.com/product/the-sorels-she-s-in-the-gang 
https://www.facebook.com/The-Sorels-289651351456486/ 
https://thesorels1.bandcamp.com/releases 
https://www.facebook.com/reta.records/ 
https://www.facebook.com/surfinkirecords/ 

Stubborn Hearts - Trixie

After pilfering so many review ideas from Mick Fletcher, I would say I'm due for another Greg Mongroll pick. Although technically I'm stealing this one from Mick as well. What can I say? I stand on the shoulders of giants! I'm especially stoked on Greg Mongroll's recommendations when they're New England based. Stubborn Hearts are representing for Rhode Island, and I love that the band name says so much about who they are. Stubborn Hearts are Jenn Lombari (vocals/guitars/songwriting) and Doug Metivier (drums). The duo's new EP is called Trixie, and it delivers five songs of powerful & heartfelt melodic punk rock. Musically it recalls '80s/'90s emo-core and melodic hardcore, but the words and voice of Jenn Lombari are what really connect for me on a personal level. When bands go to the trouble to publish their lyrics, ideally it's because they have something meaningful to say that speaks to the human experience. And that's definitely the case here. These five songs are linked by one common thread: the agony of lost love and longing, and the toll that it all takes on our emotional state. Lombari addresses these themes in an open and wonderfully engaging way. This is intense stuff, and it's carried off with tremendous honesty and humor (the line "I've got mediums and therapists on speed dial" is both hilarious and devastating). Lead track "Our Hearts Are Turned To 10 Tonight" is honestly one of the most beautifully-written and spot-on love songs I've ever come across. I'm always awed when a two-minute song can say more about the fragility of romantic relationships than I ever could with thousands of words of prose. Those last five lines in particular give me goosebumps.

Stubborn Hearts are a band that remind me of why I came to love melodic punk music in the first place. Stripped down to just guitar, drums, and voice, their music exhibits a rawness I find incredibly refreshing in 2019. Trixie is full of relatable songs that emanate straight from the heart. At a time when "emo" has practically become a dirty word, this band demonstrates what emotional punk rock once was and still can be. Greg Mongroll will never steer you wrong!



-L.R.

https://stubbornhearts.bandcamp.com/album/trixie 
https://www.facebook.com/stubbornheartsband/

The Born Readies - "Mean Genes"

Sometimes all you really need is some great rock and roll! "Mean Genes" is the new single from Denver-based rockers The Born Readies, and lord is this thing ever an explosion of big guitars and big hooks! This is the band's first release since last year's LP Its Just Rock & Roll, and it's the recorded debut of its latest lineup. If you dig '70s glam and the hooky side of classic rock, this tune ought to be right up your alley. I love the simplicity and clarity of this band's mission: "four dudes who want to make good tunes" and "keep it dumb and fun". These guys are true believers in rock and roll, and they know how to write a good, old-fashioned rock radio hit. They aren't overly conscious about their influences, although I can definitely hear some Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Slade, and early KISS in their musical DNA. "Mean Genes" is a name your price download over at Bandcamp, and it's the perfect song to crank loud in the car on a hot summer day. If you like what you hear, be sure to check out the album as well. Awesome band!



-L.R.

https://thebornreadies.bandcamp.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/TheBornReadies/ 

Proto Idiot - Find Out For Themselves

My relationship with post-punk music has notoriously been of the love/hate variety. But in the case of Proto Idiot, it's strictly love. A lot of that has to do with the unique sound this Manchester trio has cultivated. It seems almost wrong to even call it post-punk. It might be better to describe it as "poppy new wave post-punk garage rock art", but I suppose that would be a mouthful. Try fitting that onto a promotional sticker! More importantly, my major complaint with most post-punk is that it's just no fun at all. Thankfully, "fun" is probably the first word that I would associate with Proto Idiot. Find Out For Themselves, the band's third album, matches its "angularity" and musical creativity with tremendous humor and a general sense of adventure and playfulness. Give me a post-punk album that has songs you can dance to, and I'm a happy camper! Check out the one-sheet description: "This is music for sophisticated eccentrics who enjoy the finer things in life – the sort of record that a mad and inbred member of the monarchy would relish." I mean, come on! How could you read that and NOT want to hear the record?!

Find Out For Themselves offers more of those "weird in a good way" musical antics that we have come to associate with the highly creative minds of Andrew Anderson, Callum Darley, and Michael Seal. I really get a kick out of a band that can go from the Wire/Gang of Four with Brit-pop leanings vibe of "Sit Back, Relax, Enjoy" right into the bizarro spazz-fest of "Prokel Yokel". And what comes after that? Sing-along synth-pop? Count me in! I like this album because it manages to traverse just about every corner of Proto Idiot's musical universe. "Fill In" is what Fugazi could have been if they had been English and not a terrible bore. "Nothing To It" is a delightful, Devo-ish romp. "Erase/Rewrite/Repeat" is what might have happened if Paul Weller had never formed The Style Council and instead started a groovy post-punk band. If you were at a club or bar or funeral parlor and heard "Find Out For Ourselves", you would absolutely be compelled to get up and dance. Propelled by Michael Seal's nifty bass work, "You're Not Nice" has a snotty energy to it that is nothing short of joyful. And if you're looking for more of Proto Idiot's "typical" poppy/garagey/quirky goodness, "Someone Else" delivers exactly that.

I've been a fan of Proto Idiot for a while, and I must say that Find Out For Themselves is the most complete fulfillment so far of the band's musical vision. It's fully post-modern yet very much steeped in the classic elements of British pop music. It's wonderfully creative yet still excitingly "punky". Basically these three have made an album so good that it has ruined almost all other post-punk for me. Good going!



-L.R.

https://proto-idiot.bandcamp.com/album/find-out-for-themselves 
https://www.facebook.com/protoidiot/ 
https://store.thirduncle.com/ 

The Prostitutes - Nineteen

I recently did a Facebook post asking people to name "the five greatest punk rock bands from the state of Pennsylvania". As far as those types of posts go, I usually let my friends do the talking and withhold my own opinions. I'm actually thinking about doing a full top ten list that I'll publish here. But I will tell you this: my #1 greatest Pennsylvanian punk band, without a doubt, is The Prostitutes. That might have even been true if the band had broken up 20 years ago. But I continue to be awed and inspired by the amazing music Kevin McGovern continues to turn out under The Prostitutes name - now 23 years after the release of the band's debut single.

Now based in Baltimore, The Prostitutes in their latest incarnation are a tight power trio also featuring JR Matthew on guitar and Barry Jewels on drums. The recent digital single "Cheap Highs" was a clear indicator that the 2019 version of The Prostitutes are a major force to be reckoned with! In short order, the band is back with another outstanding single that's available as a name your price download from Bandcamp. "Nineteen" is like the older, wiser counterpart to the band's classic song "Twenty-Two". It's a tale of aimlessness, dead-end employment, and rampant chemical abuse. Except in this case, the lyrics come from a place of perspective and reflection. I think most of us have those moments where we look back upon on our younger selves and think, "What in the hell was I doing?!". If you're a great artist like Kevin McGovern, you turn those thoughts into a song. This is exactly the kind of music you would hope to hear from a punk band nearing the quarter century mark of its existence. Lyrically and musically, it's informed by life experience and personal growth. Yet it still rages with a passion and purpose. Kevin doesn't rest on his past glories. Working with his new band mates and kindred spirit producer Tim Shock, he's moving forward! But don't for a minute think that means that he's fully retired his notorious nasty streak. "Not Around" is full of the blunt truth-telling and eloquent tongue-lashings that have been a Kevin McGovern signature for years. And it just straight-up rocks! "Now I'm leaving town/Low budget hearse in reverse" just might be the line of the year. This song is vintage Prostitutes, yet it feels updated for the musical landscape of 2019 punk rock.

If you had told 25-year-old me that I'd be reviewing The Prostitutes in 2019, I would have said, "No fucking way!" I certainly didn't foresee myself still writing about punk records when I was pushing 50, and I probably didn't foresee The Prostitutes making it out of the '90s alive. Yet here we are, and one thing that's become clear to me through the years is that punk rock is not something that people "outgrow". Over 40 is probably the median age of the people who read this blog and the members of bands I write about! I can sit here with a straight face and tell you I'm genuinely excited about The Prostitutes future. Whether you're a longtime fan or just hearing this band for the first time, "Nineteen" is essential listening.



-L.R.

https://theprostitutes1.bandcamp.com/album/nineteen-not-around
https://www.facebook.com/tutespunk

Booji Boys - Tube Reducer

Having taken the garage/punk scene by storm with a pair of brilliant LPs in 2017, Booji Boys have returned with a third album that will disappoint absolutely no one. Tube Reducer is due out on vinyl on Drunken Sailor Records next month, but the digital tracks have been made available for your immediate listening pleasure. Your first response will likely be something along the lines of "This sure sounds like Booji Boys!". And there's nothing wrong with that! This Halifax, Nova Scotia based outfit has an immediately identifiable sound that it has clearly perfected on this outing. In case you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years, I'll summarize: Booji Boys play pop songs at hardcore speed, with scuzzy lo-fi production and vocals so muffled that you'll swear they were recorded in another dimension (I hope I'm not giving away any trade secrets!). But don't let the budget fidelity distract you from appreciating some of the finest songwriting in today's punk world. Compared to its two predecessors, Tube Reducer is every bit as loaded with killer tunes. And the energy level of the band remains off the charts. Tracks like "Lucky Citizen" and "Berlinetta" are thrilling jolts of crackling melodic punk, while "Stevie Cool" is basically anthemic power pop if it were fired out of a missile launcher. While not exactly a cover, the title track is clearly an homage to a certain classic punk song. It's one of THE essential songs to rock out to in the summer of 2019. And while Booji Boys offer plenty of their signature sound here, they never let themselves become predictable. "Herky Jerky" and "Nervous Idea" find them revisiting their hardcore roots, while album closer "Moto-Hard" is precisely the off the rails noise rock anthem I've been awaiting for practically this entire millennium. There's no denying that the band's first two albums were going to be very hard to follow. But in Tube Reducer, Booji Boys have delivered a veritable masterpiece of lo-fi punk rock. It's their best album yet! LP will be out August 16th, so get your orders in now if you want one on silver or orange vinyl!

  
-L.R.

https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tube-reducer-lp 
https://boojiboysfuneral.bandcamp.com/ 
http://www.drunkensailorrecords.co.uk/products/646006-booji-boys-tube-reducer-lp-drunken-sailor-records-drunkensailor-115 
https://www.facebook.com/DrunkenSailorRecords 

Wild Zeros/Proto Idiot - Jukebox Serie split 7"

It's hard to beat a split 7" when you really like both bands. Well today I've got a split featuring two bands I like a lot! Out on the new French label Permanent FREAK, this team-up between France's Wild Zeros and Manchester's Proto Idiot appears to be the first installment in a series called Jukebox Serie. Sometimes with splits, bands don't always put their best material out there. But I must say that that is not the case here. Both bands contribute a strong pair of all-new original songs. Wild Zeros turn out the tracks "Don't Want It, Still Get It" and "First Floor Freak". This is already the fourth Wild Zeros 7" release in less than a year, and this effort is very much in keeping with the previous three. Think '90s-style garage punk rock and roll with filthy guitars and a beat that's sure to get you shaking your hips. I'm especially partial to the blazing "First Floor Freak". Given the partnership with Wild Zeros here, it's fitting that "Tell Me What You Want" is Proto Idiot at its "punkiest" (yet still plenty quirky/oddball). If you're looking for a song to inspire you to suddenly start vigorously jumping up and down for no apparent reason other than it would be tremendous fun, this track ought to do it! What a jolt of energy! "New Ways of Seeing" slows the pace a tad, exploring that poppy side of new wave/post-punk/art-punk that these gentlemen are so well known to occupy. And if you're left wanting more, you're in luck since Proto Idiot just released a new LP!

I would imagine that if you're a fan of one of these bands, you're probably a fan of the other. And if not, maybe you will become one now! I hope this is just the first of many installments of Permanent FREAK's Jukebox Serie. It's limited to just 300 copies, so get cracking!



-L.R.

https://permanentfreak.bandcamp.com/album/wild-zeros-proto-idiot-jukebox-series-split 
https://wildzeros.bandcamp.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/permanent.freak/ 
https://www.facebook.com/protoidiot/ 
https://www.facebook.com/wildwildzeros/