Month: September 2014

The record is what happens when a band comprised of talented stoners is tasked with creating an LP’s worth of music but is not given any editorial oversight. There are a few good songs and plenty of hilarious, quotable passages (“Pollo Asado” comes to mind). However, there are also quite a few forgetful stinkers. In re-listening to this for the first time in a while there were tracks near the end of record which I had no recollection of ever having heard.

“I Know What Boys Like” was a personal new wave favorite for me as a kid. It was featured on K-tel’s The Beat new wave compilation—a comp which served as a launching point for so many bands for me (except for Graham Parker whose track absolutely sucked). The songs here are funny, energetic and fronted with snotty, attitude-filled vocals that are everything that 60s garage rock vocalists shrived for. This is also a rare example of saxophone working in pop music!

I bought this from a bargain bin at either Best Buy or some other big box retailer thinking that I would have the definitive collection of The Ventures’ classic instrumental guitar rock and roll. The neckerchiefs and wide collars on the cover should have been a dead giveaway for the disco-tinged crap that fills this CD. With the possible exception of “Hawaii Five-O,” I think all these songs are remakes of the originals. Remakes with funky bass lines and that steady boom-tiss disco beat that have more in common with Giorgio Morodor than Dick Dale. The songs border on being Meco’s “Star Wars & Other Galactic Funk” and straight up elevator music. There is a cheese-factor to this record that prevents me from getting rid of it, but it remains one of the most disappointing records I ever bought.

Another one of my wife’s CDs. I’ve never been much of a fan of this band but here, upon a second or third listen, I think I might like them despite Lou Reed’s singer/songwriter leanings (I care more about music than lyrics). The raw and seemingly untrained playing nicely exists somewhere between 60’s garage rock and 70’s punk rock. I will probably give there “official” releases a try soon.

This is basically a CD repackaging of New Clear Days with about a third of the songs from Magnets. The Vapors are a new wave band that doesn’t really get the love they deserve. There’s not a bad song on New Clear Days. Their hit, “Turning Japanese” only scratched the surface of what they were capable of creating. These are smart, high-energy power-pop songs that deserve to be played loud and often.

I remember being pretty excited when I bought this CD. I loved the earliest Vandals records and finally being able to get something new from that band was a big thing for me. Turns out something happened between Peace Thru Vandalism and this. A big part of that something was that all but one of the original members remained in the band, and that one original member was now playing a different instrument. They apparently didn’t admire Wire’s one line-up one name policy (they changed their name to Wir when the drummer left the band) like I did. The jokey lyrics are still there but their sound morphed into that cheesy radio friendly pop-punk sound that you hear from bands like Blink 182. On top of that are cringe worthy shredder guitar solos that just scream Southern California metal. What’s missing is that tinge of “I don’t care what you think” anger or aggression that, while never mean-spirited, really drove those early records.

As a kid growing up in Central Illinois Peace Thru Vandalism was one the first “punk rock” records I ever heard. I wasn’t a punk rocker (or corn-chip as was the Peoria slang for anyone who looked even remotely “goth” or “punky”) but I did like much of the music and this record was a great gateway point for someone who grew up listening to Dr. Demento and novelty music. Vandals’ songs are funny and never very serious. Even their anarchist’s anthem “Anarchy Burger” is a goof. Despite the light-hearted tone, the music is loud and fun and everything the punk rock episode of Quincy M.E. promised.

The other half of this CD is the band’s first full-length record, When In Rome. The irreverent sense of humor is still there with songs like “Viking Suit” and “Slap of Luv,” but the music is a bit less aggressive and a bit more diverse (there’s even some scratching on “Ladykiller”). I am not sure that’s a good thing, but it works here for the most part.