WHAT?! I wake up today and suddenly a new Los Pepes album has popped up seemingly out of nowhere?! This is almost too much joy for one man to handle! For five years now, I have been closely following the musical progression of the "loudest power pop band on earth". After perfecting Good Vibrations Records inspired powerpop punk on its first couple of albums, this London outfit has proceeded to inch closer and closer to the blistering sonic fury it's known for on stage. If you're not ready to have your ears blown clean off of your head, you should be very careful laying that needle down onto Positive Negative!
If your knowledge of Los Pepes precedes 2017's Let's Go!, you might be taken aback by how less "poppy" Positive Negative sounds than the band's first two LPs. What we've got here, my friends, are 11 tracks of ripping rock and roll taking equal cues from '60s mods and '70s punks. This, to me, is the "Motörhead gone power pop" sound Los Pepes were going for from the start. There's still plenty of pop in the equation, but here the band leans just as much toward the tougher side of '77 punk (Testors, Dead Boys) and the thundering energy of early Who. The band hits the ground running with "Still Belong To Me" and "Positive Negative" - a 1-2 punch firmly establishing this as a balls-out rock and roll record. You can easily imagine these guys playing your local watering hole and tearing the roof off of the place (I think that's actually happened a few times). Those guitars are pure fire! Those two along with "Aint Life Easy" and "We Need It" are definitely the most ferocious studio tracks Los Pepes have ever committed to tape. Elsewhere, the band puts the power in power pop on "Think Back", summons the spirit of Slaughter and the Dogs on "Frustration", and revisits its earlier pop/punk sound on the excellent "Medication". And to close the album, "Action" is a great cover of legendary NYC punks The Knots.
Positive Negative is that rare record that ought to have the old school punks, garage freaks, pop geeks, and rock and roll purists in a unified state of elation. If no power pop is ever powerful enough to suit your tastes, Los Pepes might have finally won you over. Their best album in years!
I have heard grumblings from numerous individuals about a lack of inspiring candidates for president. Well if you can't get inspired about Dboy for president, there's just no pleasing you! You may recall me reviewing Dboy's full-length record last year. My endorsement was earned without collusion or coercion, and instead through the sheer power of transcendent rock and roll. "Dboy for President" is a collaboration between the Performance and Recreation Council and Dine Alone Records. It's an extension of the thirteen-point program set out in Dboy's official manifesto ("10. Dboy take on the laborious task of developing novelty and shock so you don't have to"). Through its spokesperson Kirill Kutchokokov, Dboy has stated that this new release is "the single for the modern free world". A vote for Dboy is a vote for an advanced future. That is something we can all stand behind. And how many other presidential candidates proclaim to write rock and roll "because rock and roll is what matters"?
The Performance and Recreation Council has released a video (embedded below), outlining a hostage situation that occurred in the run-up to Dboy's present campaign for office. Click play, and you too will be a true believer and perhaps even find yourself persuaded to join the Dboy scouts today. If your commitment to the cause demands a physical product, yellow vinyl copies of "Dboy for President" are available via Bandcamp and include a poster of these three wolves for further adoration. Support the new era of aesthetic ingenuity!
So we got new singles from Amyl and the Sniffers and The Chats in just the space of a couple weeks? It's as if Australia is opening up its massive arms and engulfing the world with awesomeness. Not that it's a competition...but of the two, the new Chats is the one I'm feeling more. Just when I thought the instant cult classic "Smoko" could never be matched, The Chats have returned with a song that could very well be my new personal anthem. What I love about this track is that it treats the craving of pub cuisine as if it's the most important thing in the world. Which, of course, it is! I just might need the lyrics to this song engraved on my tombstone! "Pub Feed" is available on 7" from Bargain Bin Records. Ordering information is available at The Chats web site. These guys already won over my heart by immortalizing their love for beer in their web addresses. Now they've taken it to another level with "Pub Feed". I can only imagine what's coming next. I'm with Mick Fletcher in hoping that a full album will be following in short order!
WHAT?! There's a new Gentlemen Jesse record? Well, "new" is a relative term. "Bryan" and "Hate To See You Stay" were both recorded back in 2009 as part of the Leaving Atlanta sessions. Jesse and company recorded over 20 tracks in hopes of having enough material to make a really great album. They did, of course, make a really great album. So it's no surprise that some of the leftovers from those sessions are of a very high quality. The surprise is that it took 10 years for any of them to see the light of day! But here we are. Italy's Wild Honey Records has stepped up to release "Bryan" as a single, and the title track is an absolute gem. It's a nice snappy number recalling the classic era of new wave power pop. If you've forgotten how much Jesse ruled the power pop world circa the mid-to-late 2000s, this track will remind you in a hurry. It stacks up quite nicely with some of his previous A-sides like "I Don't Wanna Know" and "She's A Trap". Unhappy with the original title "Dianne", Jesse switched it to "Bryan" in honor of his best pal and owner of Douchemaster Records! On the flip, "Hate To See You Stay" came so close to making it onto Leaving Atlanta but was ultimately pulled in favor of "Rooting For the Underdog" (no complaints there: that song ruled!). Now the world gets to hear it, and that's quite fortunate. It's the perfect song for a B-side. It has a lot of feeling behind it, and that sneaky-catchy chorus really sticks with you. It's easy to see why it was intended for inclusion on the album.
Kudos to Wild Honey Records for making this record a reality. If you're a power pop fan, you ought to be jumping for joy! Can you believe these tracks have been in the can for a decade?!
When you think of powerpop/punk in the 2010s, the Steve Adamyk Band ought to be one of the first bands that comes to mind. Adamyk was there at the beginning of the decade, and he's still here at the end. Out on Dirtnap Records, Paradise is now the sixth SAB album (and first in three years). It's the first to feature the band's most recent three-piece lineup with Pat Johnson of The Acorn and Johnny O of Uranium Comeback backing singer/guitarist Adamyk. Spoiler alert: it rocks!
First things first: Paradise sounds like a Steve Adamyk Band record! No one's going to hear this album and be like, "Whoa! They really changed their sound!". And thank God for that. I'm not saying that Steve Adamyk invented powerpop/punk, but he was one of the individuals most responsible for defining what that genre would become in the present decade. A Steve Adamyk Band record that deviated from the basic formula of power pop influenced punk rock would just seem...wrong! Certain SAB albums have leaned more "pop" or "garage", but the band has never wavered from its general musical style. Paradise, for the lack of a better term, is quite possibly the "punkest" of the band's six albums. Recorded by Mike Bond and mixed by Jesse Gander, this is a huge-sounding album that really punches up the guitars and vocal harmonies. Locked in tight with his latest rhythm section, Adamyk just sounds like a guy who's super inspired to play some fast and tuneful punk rock! There's a palpable Ramones influence propelling "In Death" and the ripping title track. The band has never sounded more powerful or purposeful as it does on "Waiting To Die Part 2". "No Help", in the vernacular of the modern-day punk rock reviewer, is positively crackling! But don't go thinking that Adamyk has come to the table without some goodies for you pop people as well. "Take It To The Top" is powerpop/punk played right down the middle: the sort of song that Adamyk should never stop writing since he's just so damn good at it! "When I Was Gone" and a fine cover of The Kidda Band's "Get Off The Telephone" swing all the way to the power pop side and are total crowd pleasers. "Left In Pieces", which manages to mash the Beach Boys and new wave pop into the band's core sound, is one of this record's true gems.
There are few better than Steve Adamyk at turning out high quality poppy punk
tunes. And my takeaway from Paradise is that his passion for creating
this type of music has never been stronger. It goes without saying that anyone who has bought all of the band's previous albums will love Paradise as well. But I'll take it a step further: if the sixth Steve Adamyk Band album is somehow your first, it will make you want to own the other five!
I fully acknowledge it's weird that after spending so many years touting new music, my list of all-time favorite bands is still comprised almost entirely of artists from the '70s. So I got an idea: what if I wrote a massive list of my all-time favorite bands and then deleted everything that was pre year 2000? What would that look like? It was an easier exercise than I expected. I had no trouble coming up with a long list of bands from the present century that I totally love and still listen to on a regular basis. For bands that were active prior to 2000, I only considered their post-2000 output. For more recent bands, I had to factor in that their recordings may have not yet been subjected to the "test of time". With all of that in mind, here we go!
20. Phone Jerks
I know what you're thinking. "Didn't their first album just come out?!" Fair enough. But in a world without Teengenerate and Loli and the Chones, Phone Jerks are the next best thing. Plus there was no way I could write a list like this and not represent multiple bands from Canada.
19. The Cry!
First album is a bona fide power pop classic. Second one isn't bad either! I anticipate we will finally get a new album from this band in 2019.
18. Something Fierce Don't Be So Cruel still sounds like the best album that the 1980s Clash never made. Rumor has it that Something Fierce is now on the verge of releasing new music for the first time in eight years. 17. The Dahlmanns
I've reviewed this band on seven occasions. It actually seems like more than that! The gold standard for the marriage of pop and punk.
16. Sugar Stems
Super underrated extra awesome power pop group. I highly recommend all three of their albums. Does pop music get any better than "Love You To Pieces"?
15. The Figgs - As the '90s turned over into the 2000s, The Figgs were at the top of their game. I probably listen to Sucking In Stereo as much as I listen to any Figgs album. Badger is my favorite Figgs EP by far. The early stuff gets all the love, but this band's post 2000 output is no less impressive.
14. The Unlovables Crush * Boyfriend * Heartbreak is one of the greatest pop-punk albums ever made.
13. Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band Promises To Deliver is my most most listened-to album of this current decade.
12. The Kidnappers
A decade before it was fashionable, The Kidnappers concocted a peanut butter cup mashup of garage punk and power pop, peaking with the "Spanish Girls" single and Neon Signs LP. I have enjoyed the twins' more recent outfit Küken, but I must admit I still miss The Kidnappers!
11. Night Birds
For my money, this is the best punk group of the last ten years. Favorite album: Born To Die In Suburbia. Second favorite: Mutiny at Muscle Beach. If you like old school hardcore punk with brilliant lyrics and a ton of melody, you need to own this band's entire discography. Little-known fact: I have consciously inserted a Seinfeld or Larry David reference into four different Night Birds reviews. I'm saving "These pretzels are making me thirsty" for the next full-length.
10. Bobbyteens
This band would have ranked higher if I'd allowed myself to consider its early singles and debut album from the late '90s. Still, top ten ain't too shabby! 2000's Not So Sweet is my favorite of the band's albums - a definitive mixture of the Ramones, girl groups, and power pop.
9. Midnite Snaxxx
Is there any punk musician of the last 25 years more under-appreciated than Dulcinea Gonzalez?
8. The Connection
I've referred to The Connection as "America's best rock n' roll band", and I think that sums it up pretty well.
7. Beach Patrol I've been a huge fan of this Green Bay outfit since 2006, when I named its full-length debut my album of the year. Over time, the band has only gotten better. Domenic has become one of our finest songwriters. The recent Levity is, in my opinion, the best album he's ever written.
6. Pale Lips
It seems like only yesterday that I was hearing this band for the very first time. It was actually four years ago! Pale Lips' debut LP was officially listed as my #2 album of 2016, and the band's latest is almost certain to be my #1 for 2019. Definitely my favorite active band.
5. Exploding Hearts
I don't think much explanation is required here.
4. Kung Fu Monkeys
The creation of a Kung Fu Monkeys Bandcamp page officially remains the best thing to ever happen to The Internet. I recently decided to put on School's Out, Surf's Up, Let's Fall in Love to see if it still holds up after 18 years plus. Boy, does it ever! There's never been another album quite like this. It's like pop-punk meets twee meets meets surf meets kiddie pop meets bubblegum meets '60s teenage dance party, propelled by James Cahill's seemingly impossible vocal range and a rhythm section that plays as if it's hopped up on Pixy Stix. Music more joyful than this has never been produced by humans. The early 2000s saw the band moving into its "mature" phase, which produced several less punky yet still totally delightful 7" releases. More recently, 2012's Son Of... The Incredibly Strange Case Of The Mysterious Mystery 7" arrived seemingly out of nowhere and delighted longtime fans with some gorgeous and masterful baroque pop.
3. Stiletto Boys
Yeah, I know this band had a home field
advantage. But I would have been a fan even if they'd been from
thousands of miles away. It's funny how time changes your impressions of
things. When the Stiletto Boys made their first album, I was like, "I
love it, but I kind of miss the rawness of the singles". When their
second album came out, I was like, "I love it, but I kind of miss the
rawness of the last album". Looking back all of these years later, I am
awed by the way the Stiletto Boys pushed themselves to get better and
better with each new release. I can still put on A Company of Wolves and find myself stunned by its greatness. Sean Wolfe was so driven to make Liberator perfect
that he was willing to scrap a completed album and start over. It ended
up being 13 years between albums. And it was worth it. Liberator (2013)
proved to be the band's masterpiece - a must-own for fans of power pop
influenced punk rock with insightful and intensely personal lyrics. If you lost track of the Stiletto Boys after the year 2000, you've got some serious catching up to do. R.I.P. Sean.
2. The Ergs
If you want to see me when I'm angry, call the Ergs a generic pop-punk band. Sure, they were Descendents fans. They were also into hardcore, jazz, and obscure indie rock. They were unabashed music and book geeks, which I related to on a personal level. They fully understood that Dirty Work is one of the true cinematic masterpieces of our time. How can you not appreciate a band that releases a single called "Blue" and backs it with a cover of "Blew" by Nirvana? Only a person well-versed in the road signage of northeastern Pennsylvania interstates can appreciate the humor in writing a song called "Ashley Sugarnotch". Most importantly, the music still holds up. Dorkrockcorkrod is an all-time top five pop-punk album in my book. f'n remains one of the most impressive demo tapes I've ever heard. And don't even get me started on the singles. On my Mt Rushmore of New Jersey rock, I have The Boss, The Shirelles, Dramarama, and The Ergs!
1. Dimestore Haloes
The Haloes coming in at #1 will surprise no one. Granted, I had to remove their first two albums from
consideration. But their last two albums are actually their best, in my humble opinion. The Ghosts of Saturday Night was the perfect transition between what the Haloes had been and what The Cheap Cassettes would later become. Wait, you don't own it yet?! Get on over to Bandcamp and rectify that immediately!
So there you have it. There were quite a few other bands that just missed the cut (too many to mention, in fact). But I'm pretty satisfied with this list, and I plan on updating every year!
I raved about a new single from Wild Zeros a little while back. But actually that was just one of two new 45s from this veteran band out of La Rochelle and Bordeaux, France. Out on Chickpea Records, "Teenage Lifestyle" of course leads with a cover of the classic track from Syracuse, New York garage punk legends The Penetrators. Why make a cover tune an A-side? I say why NOT make a cover tune an A-side?!
One thing I like about Wild Zeros is their choice of cover material. They have a tendency to cover powerhouse songs from bands that ought to be household names in punk circles but are still unknown to a lot of people. Taking on "Teenage Lifestyle" (first released in 1979), Wild Zeros don't try and out-do the original (that would be impossible). Their rendition is faithful to The Penetrators' version, but with that special Wild Zeros touch. It sounds wild...and French! This track is from sessions recorded by Lo'Spider at Swampland in Toulouse a couple years back, and it totally rips! It is my fervent hope that more than a few people will hear this and immediately want to own the original version on record (Luckily you can still get the re-issue of The Penetrators' Kings of Basement Rock LP from Slovenly Recordings!). To finish off this one-sider, Wild Zeros turn out an original called "Vampire Girl". It's exactly what you've come to expect from this band: trashy garage punk rock n' roll done right! It's like the '90s never ended! Copies of this single are limited, so head on over to Discogs if you want to buy the vinyl. These tracks - and the rest of the Wild Zeros catalog - are available digitally via Bandcamp!
