Reviews

I-94

Norcos y Horchata Unkind Sometimes / Don’t Come Crying to Me 7″

“Unkind Sometimes” starts off with such gross, distorted, driving bass that it could be the dumpster baby of your favorite FEEDTIME or NO BAILS tune. When the song kicks in, the vocals remind me of the darker NAKED RAYGUN songs, with a little NOMEANSNO seasoning for that extra aural punch. The flipside of this lil’ spinner hits with some guitar feedback/pedal knob-twisting that pulls me back to the TRANS MEGETTI’s 1999 opening track “Rio Nexpa,” wherein it builds a tension that makes my legs sweat. It bursts into a ’77-style thug bar pounder, and out of nowhere Annie comes in delivering “Everyone hide your head, everyone will soon be dead.” She only plops in once to deliver this, which emphasizes the band’s attuned craftsmanship to impact and craving more. I mean, come on, a great song with a greater hook only one time in the song! It is both genius and irritating. I don’t know if this song is about the end of the world or the end of a friendship, but either way, it is worth a spin. This is the perfect two-sider that makes me bummed that I slept on getting their LP. I think I should mention this has folks that were in BILL BONDSMAN, BUMP-N-UGLIES, DEVIOUS ONES, the PUTZ, and many others.

Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders Senator’s Daughter 7″

The LAZY COWGIRLS remain one of my favorite punk bands of all time. I felt like they always gave 100% effort. There was an energy in their live performances and that carried over into their studio recordings. I found their songs (and still find their songs) infectious. I can’t say that I’ve listened to Pat Todd’s latest outfit a ton, but for me this picks up right where the LAZY COWGIRLS left off. It’s this awesomeness of gritty rock’n’roll that manages to remain fun and catchy and genuine. Two cuts, both great. One original and one cover. The cover is an obscure one, but one that has a funny tie to the RANKOUTSIDERS. This record is fucking good. Go buy it. Extra points for being a vinyl only release (at least as far as I’m aware).

The Bellrays Ball of Confusion EP

Anchored by Lisa Kekaula’s singularly powerful vocals, the BELLRAYS have been belting out punk/garage/blues for the last three decades. Here they are covering the TEMPTATIONS’ ’70s hit “Ball of Confusion.” The original was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and echoed the political tensions at the time. The song’s repeating refrain “And the band played on” was used as the title of Randy Shilts’s book about the Reagan administration’s apathy in addressing the AIDS epidemic. Here, the lyrics are refocused on modern times addressing mass shootings, pharma corruption, and venomous political ideologies. Kekaula belts out the message with the backing band sounding Detroit STOOGES and MC5-inspired. The flipside “I Fall Down” is equally as impactful and a stand-alone single in its own right.

The Sleeveens UFOs / Bernadette 7″

The SLEEVEENS kind of blew up the garage punk interworlds when they released their debut album on Dirtnap this year. They came out of the Nashville scene, playing blistering garage punk like the OBLIVIANS with a MARKED MEN precision. They were tapped by I-94 for their Detroit covers series, where bands put an original song on one side of a 45 and a cover on the flipside. Here they turn their energy down a bit for a trippy, hypnotic garage burner called “UFOs” on the A-side. The B-side is their take of the FOUR TOPS classic “Bernadette” in a sped-up, anthemic blast.

Zero Boys Don’t Shoot Can’t Breathe / Long Way to Go 7″

Possibly irrelevant now, but their 1981 album Vicious Circle remains a classic and has some of the best hardcore songs ever. I’m generally not a fan of bands that are playing almost 40 fucking years later (that’s rich coming from a dude who is approaching 60), but I really like this one. This isn’t hardcore, but it is punk and it’s good. The A-side is methodical, almost MISSION OF BURMA-like. The B-side isn’t quite as good for me and leans more towards a trashy rock’n’roll number, even kind of funky. Honestly, if it was some other band, I might not like it at all. But the A-side alone is worth it. I’ve got a lot of respect for bands that keep at it but also just don’t keep doing the same thing. Nice job.