The Gruesomes

Reviews

The Gruesomes Cave In! LP reissue

You don’t need to know that the GRUESOMES were Canadian or that they formed in the mid-’80s or that this album was originally released around 2000, but that is all probably helpful information. Here’s some better information: this is some amazingly catchy garage pop that will grab your feet and just start moving them. It’s mid-tempo and super melodic and it’s got a fuzzy guitar sound that will transport you to a garage full of wild teenage kids back in 1967. A couple of key things: one, it’s on Alien Snatch. Two, if Jon von (SACRED COWS, MR. T EXPERIENCE, RIPOFFS) was Canadian, he’d have been in this band.

The Gruesomes Tyrants of Teen Trash LP

“Teen trash” is right—this neo-’60s garage outfit presents a clutch of primitive, upbeat rockers on this one. We’ve heard it all before—and that’s the problem. Montreal’s GRUESOMES don’t recycle their riffs to sound new or different, though there are a few nostalgia moments here, like “For All I Care.”