After a quick shot of adrenaline with the opening
theme-song “Bottlerocket,” Laramie,
Wyoming’s Teenage Bottlerocket crank up
the charm, the single-string Weaselcore leads,
and the whoa-oh-oh’s for an ultra-catchy
sophomore full-length that’s guaranteed
to bring a smile to lovers of Ramones-influenced
punk. The instantly-recognizable vocals of Kody
(of classic horror-punkers The Lillingtons,)
alternate with co-guitarist Ray, as together
they slur words like “one” and “own”
into polysyllabic hooks. The trick with Ramonescore
is that bands have to maintain the illusion
of simplicity (often to the point of stupidity)
while constantly inventing new melodies and
choruses that stick in the brain like the used
bubblegum embedded under the desks at Rock N
Roll High School. All great pop music melds
the new with the comfortably familiar, and Teenage
Bottlerocket does that as well as anyone here,
rewriting (nay, improving) the Ramones’
“I Don’t Want To Go Down To The
Basement” as “In The Basement,”
and then revisiting crucial teenage issues (from
dating to self-image) with the insight and innocence
that can only be mined from the state of perpetually
retarded adolescence known as Punk Rock. Here’s
to never growing up. - Jim Testa
THE ADORKABLES – “In
The Afterhours” EP (myspace.com/theadorkables)
On their second release, California’s
Adorkables sing about zombies. I’m not
sure why (Halloween comes but once a year;
Pop/Punk has no season,) but bands could do
worse than follow in the footsteps of the
Misfits and Lillingtons. Especially since
the Adorkables – with Eric Gentry’s
booming lead vocals (which bear a noticeable
resemblance to his influences, Glenn and Kody,
) relentlessly catchy upstroked power chords,
and lots of singalong whoa-oh’s –
handle this sub-genre of punk so well. The
songs are fast and funny, with memorable melodies,
stinging lead guitars, and big, bright harmony-rich
choruses. They’ve obviously got the
talent, and I wind up singing along every
time I listen to this; but I would like to
hear what they can do when they write songs
about something besides the walking dead.
- Jim Testa
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