Column: Punk Rock Scouting Report

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.

HOME RUNS

THE CHEATS – Old Rats On A New Ship (Screaming Crow Records)

These veteran Pittsburgh punks 86’d a completed album and started afresh when Johnny Razorblade (who also mixed and mastered) came aboard on guitar. The results? A strong album with Todd Cheat’s burly, cigarettes-and-whiskey vocals blustering over dirty guitars and a powerful but fluid rhythm section. Although it’s mostly power chords, a few zippy solos, and a full steam ahead tempo through the 11 tracks, the band throws in enough stylistic diversity to demonstrate they know a thing or three about how to write a rock ‘n’ roll  punk song. “Blood From A Stone” opens things with a blast of Motörhead-inspired rock, followed by Screeching Weasel style pop punk, “woah-oh” and call-and-response backing vox, catchy choruses, witty lyrics (“The Only Thing I’m Fucking Is Up,”) a couple of Ramones-y love songs, and introspective reflections on the lifestyle they’ve chosen (“Everything You Love Will Die,” “Time to Leave,” “The Price I’m Paying”). There’s not one track on this I’d skip, and that’s a home run in any ballpark.

PANEL – A Great Time To Be An Empath (Don’t Sing Records)

While Minneapolis’ Panel is primarily the songwriting project of the well-traveled singer/guitarist Annie Sparrows (The Soviettes, Green/Blue, Bermuda Squares, Awesome Snakes,) the band includes other names I was happy to see, including guitarist Kat Naden (of the much-missed God Damn Doo Wop Band), bassist Zac Mayeux (Billy Raygun, Notches), and drummer Justin Nelles. Even with two guitarists, Zac’s bass figures massively in the band’s sound, a New Wave pastiche that’s more indie-rock than hardscrabble punk, bouncy and melodic, laden with irony and cheek, and eminently hummable. While Annie Sparrows doesn’t flinch when it comes off to showing off her vocal chops, she mostly talk/sings opener “Breakdown” (reminiscent of “People Who Died”). “Victoria” (not The Kinks tune) is delicious. “Yeah” and “Solid Start” feature an insidious, undulating beat, the former with a massive wall of vocals, the latter building from whispered secrets to a proclamation. “Two Little Dogs” switches gears for a piano ballad, while “Life Is Strange” rampages cacophonously. The album ends with “Neurotica,” a natural set closer, from its mysterious melody and lyrics to its big crescendo climax. I look forward to lots more from this crew, but next time, Ms. Sparrows, please include the lyrics. I suspect half of this record flew right over my head (or at least past my damaged hearing).

AROUND THE BASES

SORRY MOM – “bummer!” EP (Hopeless Records)

Juno Moreno (guitar, vocals) and Taryn Gangi (drums) comprise the self-described DIY “queer punk” duo Sorry Mom (on their website, they kid that they use the term “for SEO purposes,” as do I). The band (originally a trio) has been around about 3 years, and debuted as something of a bedroom-pop novelty act, with the viral single “I Fucked Your Mom” and twee tracks like “Molly Sells Molly by the Sea Shore,” “Officer, That’s Not Mine,” and “Awesome Party, Dude.” Written by Juno and produced, mixed, and mastered by Taryn, the “Bummer” EP makes a DIY statement despite being on Hopeless Records. It also resets Sorry Mom’s trajectory since it eschews the sarcasm and cheekiness of the early singles for a much darker, downbeat vibe. The nearly 5-minute “Going to the Park” (clearly not to have fun) features gloomy fuzzed guitars and morose, intertwined, moaning and wailing vocals, with an eerie spoken-word coda. Folkie acoustic guitar take “I Can Laugh About It Afterwards” in a completely different direction, the sweet-sounding vocals and melody in stark contrast to the chilling lyrics, in which romantic entanglement resembles stalking prey. “Youngstown” shifts gears once again, this time into an indie-rock road song with a Liz Phair vibe about driving away from a bad relationship, until Juno wigs out and starts screaming like a psycho killer. Unnerving? Yes, indeed, and it only gets weirder, as “Turn” ends the EP with a head-bobbing indie-rock melody where the music suggests freedom, escape and transcendence, but the lyrics describe a corpse floating  through a water main. Juno intones, “you called me dangerous, you called me on the phone,” as the music plays out, and we’re left wondering what the fuck we just listened to. “Bummer,” indeed!  

MAKIN’ OUT – Living In A Glass House (Dead Broke Rekerds)

This Minneapolis quartet, fronted by Caitlin Angelica, plays upbeat folk-punk on the surface; you could listen and thoroughly enjoy everything without giving it a second thought.  Caitlin’s got a lovely voice, lively and spunky, occasionally squeaky but always  animated, a pop-punk coquette with plenty of spark, and the music, while unabashedly punk, draws from the wellspring of folk, country, and hillbilly influences. Look below the surface, though, and you’ll find the rotting underbelly of the American experience, as songwriting providing Caitlin Angelica an outlet to deal with a traumatic history of drug addiction, abandonment, and gun violence. (According to the Bandcamp page, she was a victim in the mass shooting that occurred at the Minneapolis punk house, Nudieland, where she witnessed the tragic and senseless murder of her partner, August Golden.) So while this album whoops and hollers and thumps and rocks, listen closely and you’ll feel a lot of pain too.

SINGLES

THE DOGMATICS – “You Got What I Want” (Rum Bar Records)

Back in the ‘80s, I spent a lot of time in Boston, and while the scene there exploded with amazing bands, I always had a soft spot for The Dogmatics, a charismatic bunch of mooks who played good ol’ rock ‘n roll, with identical twin brothers Pete and Paul O’Halloran on guitar and bass and Hawaiian shirt-clad Jerry Lehane on rhythm guitar and vocals. The band ended when Paul died in a tragic motorcycle accident, but nearly forty years later, lead singer/guitarist Jerry Lehane, Pete O’Halloran and brother Jimmy, and drummer Tom Long (who was only 18 when he first joined the group) started performing and writing new music, with their first full-length due later this year.  The first single, “You Got What I Want” suggests these guys haven’t lost a step; it’s just classic rock ‘n’ roll in the Eddie Cochran mold, 90 seconds of rollicking fun with simple, singalong lyrics and a bold, catchy melody (and 10 second guitar solo) guaranteed to make you smile.

Past Punk Rock Scouting Reports