These record reviews originally appeared in Audio Ammunition on February 27th, 2014
Superior power-pop punk by former front lady of Young People With Faces; the band also featured a No Tomorrow Boy as well, if I’m not mistaken. Chain Letters have warm female vocals laid gently like a soft blanket a top of melodic buzz saw guitars. Chain Letters drum up some super fantastic Ramones-y sing-a-long songs about love and longing. Is there a greater subject to sing Rock N’ Roll songs about? - Jay Castro
Finally we have more than a two song 7” by the fabulous Ballantynes! What you get here are six magnificent songs of rowdy yet smooth, heartfelt mod/soul music to delight your spirits. When I say smooth, I mean Motown heyday Smokey Robinson smooth! The Ballantynes make you want to sit up straight, put on a vintage suit and soak it with sweat from dancing in it all night long. I don’t dance mind you, but this band have come the closest anyone ever has to make me want to. - Jay Castro
This is the third LP from Ontario’s loud, feral 1960’s style garage punk band Strange Attractor. It’s reminiscent of that era’s more energetic acts like The Sonics or the Monks with some contemporary influence like Seattle’s Makers and even some Lost Sounds thrown in there to make things even more on edge. At times it also reminds me of Shane MacGowan’s Nips/Nipple Erectors or even Billy Childish at his most manic. Guitar is loud, drums set to garbage lid bashing tone, and vocals are at shrill level. I like this record more and more every time I hear it! - Jay Castro
So you know that feeling you get when you hear the first 5 seconds of a record and you know it’s going to knock you off your easy chair? That’s what I got when I heard Boston’s Black Cheers. It sounds like a mixture of 1990’s Chicago pop punk heroes The Vindictives and Vancouver’s Black Haloes. They’ve got a brilliant mix of melodic pop punk guts fused with a gritty back alley temper. The singer sounds like he gargles Kerosene with bits of glass in it as a morning ritual! Great record! - Jay Castro
From the windy city came this wonderful LP that blew the doors off of the Audio Ammunition stronghold. Superb ear pleasing power-pop with punk jabs peppered throughout. The music has hints of The Muffs and The Fastbacks. Their Facebook page says they formed in 2005 but this is their debut record. I surely hope there are more tunes lying in wait out there ready for us to ferociously gobble up! - Jay Castro
This Chicago three piece delivers melodic brawny rock punk with thick guitars, dueling lead vocals and lots of oohs and aahs in the background. Anyone that reads my reviews knows I am not a fan of bands that force feed their political agendas down people’s throats. VOA however is not entirely like one of those groups. The lyrics do have a socially cognizant theme, but the songs on this 7” talk about staying young at heart and finding the strength to survive the daily grind. These are timeless subject matters that anyone with a pulse can relate to. - Jay Castro
From Washington, DC comes the third record by Vegas With Randolph and it’s a power-pop paradise. It's so pressure packed with tremendously catchy melodies and amusing lyrics that I found myself immediately replaying this record as soon as it was over. I hear ‘90's power pop influences like Material Issue and Jellyfish as well as The Knack and The Beat, which gives some of the songs a more Rock N’ Roll kick to them. Audio Ammunition didn’t do a year’s best records list for 2013, but if I did, this record would have easily been one of the top! - Jay Castro
This debut album from the San Francisco singer/songwriter gives us a glimpse of what Wavves or The Jacuzzi Boys would be like if they listened to late ‘70’s British mod revival bands. Adam Widener musically captures the similar sounds of fellow Bay Area psychedelic garage rockers Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall with the song structures and melodies of Paul Weller tacked on. Pretty good stuff I must say. After all, what bands wouldn’t benefit by sprinkling some second wave maximum rhythm and blues in their tunes! - Jay Castro
A marvelous compilation put together by Austrian record label Bachelor records! According to the press release it was put together to celebrate a music club in Dublin Ireland that gets together and listens to records and sees live bands. It starts off with 2 gems by The # 1’s, a melodic ruckus of mod Rock N’ Roll bliss. Next up is September Girls doing fun, catchy ‘60’s jangly garage pop. Bringing it all home is the Faux Kings presenting to us a rollicking hillbilly stomp-o-rama called “Luchadora,” which sounds a lot like The Ramones “Ramona,” but highly entertaining none the less. If this is an example of what those Irish cats get together and listen to, how do I go about starting an AZ chapter of a Big Itch Club! - Jay Castro
WOW, what a great record from start to finish! Synth-pop, new wave sounds with New Romantic melodies thrown in there. Some of their older releases have a rawer production; this LP here is a bit more produced, which is totally fine. Both sounds suit the band quite well, which is pretty unusual. The band does have some punkier sounding numbers found in the middle of the disc like the songs “Antenna” and “Blood Dips.” If you love bands like Echo and The Bunnymen, Human League or even Duran Duran, then this record is going to put a big smile on your face for sure, it did to me! - Jay Castro
This Brooklyn, NY trio set free rowdy and thick, lo-fi Rock N’ Roll. Judging by the album cover and their Facebook profile, these guys don’t take themselves too seriously. However with songs slathered in this much swagger and downright charisma, it’s hard for a listener not to. Some of the songs lean into a swampy blues sound and also into sludgy psychedelic, but wherever these guys may roam they never falter from their Rock N’ Roll roots and the good times are sure to follow! - Jay Castro
These Portland, Oregon lads seem to be everywhere right now. This is the band’s second LP and these young guys really know how to hit the PR trail for themselves. The band plays a version of infectious glam, glitter, Rock N’ Roll that typically has a sleazy, shady undertone to it; see Biters. However these four guys play like a Bay City Rollers version of it. Which is not a bad thing by any means; it lends their music a wonderful and unique quality. Sleaze you can fake, a true and honest heart is an impossibility to counterfeit. - Jay Castro
The Rebel Set unleashes their second LP on us and it’s everything I was hoping it would be. Much like their last LP Poison Arrow, it’s a tapestry woven with swirling surf guitar and lo-fi frenzy set in the background of a 1950’s noir crime movie. The music has an element of fun and danger, but manages not to get cartoon-y. Lesser folk would drop the ball juggling so much into a Rock N’ Roll band, but Joe Zimmerman and his band sound like they’re quite comfortable surrounded by the bedlam. - Jay Castro
On their third full length, SVT continue their path of destruction all around the Phoenix metropolitan area, stomping on all of us puny humans like the Hulk on a rampage. They distribute their brand of bold Rock N’ Roll loud and fast: like a cannonball shot to the chest. Monster guitar hooks are still plentiful, drums and bass still set at thunder clap levels and the vocals are once again violently spewed all over your face. Raging Rock N’ Roll that will surely crack earth beneath the feet of where ever you happen to be listening to it!- Jay Castro
Toy Guitar – S/T EP (Adeline Records)
I first heard of this band when Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel mentioned them as one of the current bands that inspire him. So when I looked them up, I expected good, but not colossally brilliant! Jack Dalrymple of One Man Army recruits some Bay Area buddies and shoots out some of the catchiest punk rock I’ve heard in a long time. It’s hard to pinpoint direct influences, but there are hints of late ‘70’s punk bluster, ‘60’s garage stomp fun, and power-pop energy. This would be right at home on Dirtnap Records. - Jay Castro
I first heard of this band when Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel mentioned them as one of the current bands that inspire him. So when I looked them up, I expected good, but not colossally brilliant! Jack Dalrymple of One Man Army recruits some Bay Area buddies and shoots out some of the catchiest punk rock I’ve heard in a long time. It’s hard to pinpoint direct influences, but there are hints of late ‘70’s punk bluster, ‘60’s garage stomp fun, and power-pop energy. This would be right at home on Dirtnap Records. - Jay Castro
This record contains some campy fun Monster Mash style ookie spooky tune-age ready to coax the Bat-tootsy out of your next Halloween party guests. The Monsters were a boisterous garage, trash, rock-a billy band from Bern, Switzerland and this record originally came out in 1988. Bachelor has reissued it to a 300-copy run. So if you’re a fan of 1960’s retro/vintage style Rock N’ Roll with an injection of The Cramps thrown in, you better act fast! - Jay Castro
There is such an appealing quality about this band that grabs you upon first listen to their record. I will attempt to explain. Female singer Schnek Tourniquet has a sparkling charisma to her new wave style vocals, fun yet urgent, the guitars are turned up loud and peppered with fuzz tone, and all the while the rhythm section booms away in the back. Think The Go Go’s, blended with The Pretenders and cut with The Avengers.- Jay Castro
This is the 2nd LP from this Stockholm band on Bachelor Records. This is high-quality Rock N’ Roll wax that sounds like it was recorded by a bunch of fun drunken rogues! It ranges from hard quick tempo beasts to slower, a tad more introspective numbers and a lot of times the songs fall in between even that. Apparently they’ve played in Europe with a virtual who’s who of American garage acts like No Bunny and The Dirtbombs. Hope they make it over to the States soon where I’m sure they will be welcomed with open arms. - Jay Castro
No Front Teeth Records have such a great reputation of putting out brilliant punk records. A label that I will just blindly buy whatever they put out. This record easily falls in with that luminous reputation. This punk rock fire-breathing beast comes at us out of London, and it sounds like it’s from Cleveland, OH. There is a certain sound that defines Midwest punk and this record is slathered in it. Tough, bold and melodic: much like their forefathers The Pagans or Dead Boys/Rocket from the Tombs. - Jay Castro
This record nearly melted my speakers into mere puddles of smoldering plastic! Ferocious late ‘70’s style Killed By Death type roaring punkers. Plain Dealers lie a bit more on the melodic side of peripheral punk bands of the late ‘70’s like the criminally underrated German punk band PVC mixed with the nasty temperament of say The Jerks or The Rotters. Great tunes, but beware: stuff will get stolen or broken when this record gets played, and yes somehow this happens even when you're listening by yourself!- Jay Castro
Right out at the bell comes the new Brandy Row song The Drifter swingin’ at you like an old Johnny Thunders tune or even a Jessie Malin style acoustic jam with that suave vagabond sheik feel. On the B side we got The Truebadours, an all star gaggle of Brit punks from The Gaggers, Rick C Quartet and a few other bands in the NFT roster. This song is called Dirty Street and it’s a more up tempo Pogues influenced jangly number. It has a similar vibe as the wise, philosophizing barroom patron with the dark, traveling carnival worker mystique. Perfect songs for the weary rock n roller that just wants something to wind down. - Jay Castro
Miscalculations capture the electro punk angular desperation of late 1970’s San Francisco bands like The Units and Screamers rather terrifically. These London inhabitants however add some of their own lo-fi agitation into the mix. This record sounds like something that was recorded after the bombs all dropped, half the world is dead or dying, and some anxious youths found a 4track recording device beneath a pile of smoldering rubble and begin to do their thing. Start fortifying your vehicles and grabbing whatever provisions you can carry, this record will validate your post apocalyptic angst! - Jay Castro
The energy starts burning out of this record the very moment your measly listening device registers what you’re trying to cram through its scrawny copper wires. Blazing fast and shouted in your face punk rock with a capitol P! I hear elements of British Oi! & Street Punk like Abrasive Wheels and Varukers mixed with the speed and primal ferocity of early 80’s American Hardcore. Songs about desperation, anarchy and a Reagan Youth cover (Degenerated), all of this under 7 minutes. This record will make you take your shirt off and start slamming into whatever passerby happens to be in your vicinity! - Jay Castro
With their third album, Washington DC’s Dot Dash graciously offers us a set of beautifully constructed 1980’s post punk style dark and delicate songs. This band consists of former Youth Brigade and Saturday People folks. For those of you that remember DC’s Saturday’s People: Dot Dash’s formula doesn’t stray too far from that. DD throw in some Psychedelic Furs and Darklands era Jesus and Mary Chain for a highly enjoyable collection of songs radiating melody and melancholy. - Jay Castro
Well look who comes waltzing into the room thinking they own the place?! These lads boldly parade on in with a dazzling debut LP. Monumentally catchy and loud punk rock bursts in the tradition of The Briefs with some Descendents bratty-ness thrown in for even more entertainment. The song I Hate Tomato Juice and I Hate You pretty much sums it all up! It’s so rare that a band can come out with a tremendous debut record that exudes both confidence and well crafted songs. It sounds like Average Times know exactly what they want and have the capacity to achieve it. - Jay Castro
Out of Lexington KY comes to us yet another release by brooding rock quartet The Elsionores. A lot of the band’s other media reviews compare them to a pop punk sound. Although the band’s songs are definitely rooted in punk and post punk, I hear a lot of early 1990’s Sub Pop influence in here. I detect hints of bands like Seaweed and Afghan Whigs woven through this record’s cavernous and slightly washed out production. Whatever their influences may be, they create some solid songs and package them together for a consistently enjoyable record through and through. - Jay Castro
Listening to this record makes me want to sit in a dimly lit, smoke filled bar with wood floors in the middle of nowhere Texas. Always keeping one eye peeled out the window for the local sheriff and keeping one hand on that six-shooter. Just in case any of the local patrons make you and decide to be do-gooders. That’s the kind of atmosphere this music conjures up. This album is a rollicking, dark and ominous country/ blues bonanza of greatness. It’s dark but not depressing with an ever so slight hint of psychedelia thrown in some songs. Imagine if Roky Erickson, Johnny Cash and Greg Allman had been band mates, this might get you a tad closer to Jesus Sons sound. Here’s hoping that “Johnny Law” never catches up to Jesus Sons! – Jay Castro
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