Words by Jim Testa
Jim Testa founded the highly influential zine, Jersey Beat in 1982 which he continues to edit to this day. Through writing for his own publication and a number of other outlets, including as a staff writer for Hudson County’s Jersey Journal, he has championed local, regional and national up-and-coming bands. Punk has always shunned credentials, but rest assured that Jim won’t lead you astray.
GRAND SLAM
WHIMSYLAND – “Bounty Bay” EP (self-released)
Return to Chadd Derkins’ imaginary amusement park and pay a visit to Botany Bay, where every ride becomes a song and every song brings joy and – yes – whimsy! While everything comes in shades of pop-punk – catchy, bouncy, and smile-inducing – each track also takes on the personality of the ride it’s describing: “Blurpy the Bumpy Barge” brings child-like excitement, “Rough ‘n’ Tumble Buccaneers” invokes the pop-punk equivalent of a sea shanty complete with hearty “yo ho ho’s,” and you can almost see the brightly-festooned cockatoos, toucans, and parrots frolicking in “Feathered Follies Bird Show.” A great theme park pays attention to detail, and that’s what Derkins does with Whimsyland; these songs may be short, but each has a distinctive lead vocal (Jason Shevchuk from Kid Dynamite and None More Black sings the pirate one), colorful backing vocals, and myriad melody lines. Back in my day, we’d call this an E-ticket ride.
HOME RUNS
TEA EATER – I Don’t Believe in Bad Luck (La Fam Recordings)
“I chose not to be awful today” is probably not something anyone in the Trump administration has said ever, but it’s typical of the colorful pronouncements coming from Tara Thiessen on Tea Eater’s excellent I Don’t Believe In Bad Luck. Thiessen, a veteran of Sharkmuffin and Gustaf, played different roles in those acts, but she’s the voice and guiding spirit of this ambitious art-punk project with a debt to the Velvets and Sonic Youth. Also like those bands, Tea Eater isn’t afraid to be funny; song titles like “ET Vs. Jesus,” “John Lemon,” and “I Am A Bug” hint at the humor, but you really have to dig into the fuzzed-up vocals to get the full effect. Tea Eater qualifies as any number of hyphenates, but if we stick to art-punk, we can appreciate the band’s attempts to subvert expectations and create ear-bending textures. Kudos to Vram Kherlopian on guitars and synths, Lindsey Ann Lawless on bass and vocals, and drummer Abdon Valdez III. This group has a distinctive sonic identity and maintains it through 11 tracks like – to quote Linda Eastman and the title of the finale – “Butter.”
WINFIELD – III (Broken Sound Tapes)
Chapel Hill, NC’s Winfield impress with their third release (I have no knowledge of the first two, which date back to 2018), as the vocals of Victoria Roy create an alluring continuity over the band’s woozy, fuzzy, melodic, mildly psychedelic and often engrossing contributions. For the record, Winfield is also Brad Prenda, Kent Corley, and David Bunch, although no credits appear anywhere I can find them. Like classic R.E.M., that can be a good thing, four musicians working as one without anyone hogging the spotlight (or ripping off gratuitous solos).
DRUNK UNCLE – “Fiction Years II” EP (Tiny Sounds Collective)
Fiction Years was the group’s 2020 debut; they subsequently released two full-lengths on another label, and now, in 2025, we get Fiction Years II from this Austin quartet who label themselves “mid-west emo” (which is sonically if not geographically accurate). The members’ identities remained a mystery (great job with the promo there, Tiny Sounds) until I found a 2022 Bandcamp entry which listed Peyton Heinig on vocals and guitar, drummer Jacob Rhodes, bassist Will Gore, and Tyler Miller on guitar, vox, keys, synth, and trumpet. I like to print the names when I think musicians do a good job, and these guys crush it, not just in the “we can play our instruments and hit all the right notes” sense but it terms of creating flow and texture and dynamics. I went back and listened to the original “Fiction Years” and I’m happy to report the band has improved considerably. Heinig used to bleat like a petulant 3-year old throwing a tantrum; he now actually sings, with an occasional throaty yelp. Muy bueno. The music is less math-y now, more melodic (also good) and they can put together a rock song. “Early Riser,” which might be about a band waking up on tour and preparing to hit the road (but could just as easily be about a mismatched couple) exemplifies the thoroughness of their approach: each verse shares the same melody but becomes distinctly its own in terms of timbre, pitch, and temperament, and the line “but we’ll all be here whenever you’re ready” just kills. Sometimes it’s the little things that betray real talent. Watch these guys.
CLEARING THE BASES
THE VAPORS – Wasp In A Jar (Vapors Own Records)
If you were around back in the heyday of MTV and New Wave, surely you remember “Turning Japanese,” a worldwide hit as well as the only legacy of The Vapors, who broke up the next year. But in 2016, a successful reunion spurred the group to reform, an album followed in 2020, and now, with singer Dave Fenton and bassist Howard Smith from the original lineup, Fenton’s son Dan on lead guitar, and drummer Michael Bowes on bass, The Vapors are turning heads with Wasp In A Jar. It still sounds like The Vapors; that knack for inspired repetition that fueled “Turning Japanese” remains the band’s secret weapon, and tracks like “Forever and Ever” bear an unmistakable 80s vibe. But this isn’t a bunch of geezers reliving their glory days; this is a band that’s benefitted from the years. David Fenton’s songwriting reveals a maturity and wisdom he lacked 45 years ago, and while tracks like “Hit The Ground Running” and ”Nonstop Radio” bring the fun, “Idiot Creature” (with its ironic “God bless America” aside, presaging our current kerfuffle with Europe) and the Kinks-y “Together Again” hit the mark as timely commentary on 21st Century politics.
VISTA BLUE – “Clearing The Benches” EP (self-released)
Mike Patton, the prolific pop-punk auteur behind Vista Blue, commemorates the beginning of every baseball season, and this year he’s whipped up a little under 3 minutes of clever, catchy music to get us in the spirit. The A-side bounces along with one of those Weasel one-string solos and celebrates those brawls where both teams pour onto the field but nobody ever gets a real punch in. The Ramones-y 38-second flipside – over before you realize it – laments the loss of a beloved possession (in this case, a Billy Ripken trading card, symbolizing… well… a whole lot more). Baseball… it reminds us of all that once was good and could be again. Just like punk.