Okay, before everyone takes it upon themselves to jump on Freak Out! and tear a strip out of it for the same reason critics have been lambasting Teenage Bottlerocket since the band released its second album in 2005 (a chorus of “It sounds the same as their other records!” invariably goes up), it might be time to realize that their albums have to be judged by a different set of values. Yes, Freak Out! sounds similar to the other four albums that Teenage Bottlerocket has released since the band formed in 2003 – but is that really so tragic? Isn't it possible that the band has simply elected to follow in a proud tradition also walked by groups like The Ramones, Motorhead and AC/DC which sees interest placed on making music that fans like above all? Would it be so horrible if the band was concentrating on appealing to its fans interest instead of following some contrived, self-absorbed desire to reinvent the wheel and strike out in a new direction?
Think about that for a second, then read on.
As long as listeners are open to the possibility that Teenage Bottlerocket is interested in writing punk songs which could play like the perfect soundtrack to a grind session at your local skate park, there's no reason why they wouldn't like Freak Out! Each of this album's fourteen tracks flies as fast and sharp as a rock and roll or rock to fakie in the faces of listeners; spouting lines and images from sources that most every punk loves including Evil Dead (“Necrocomicon” and “Punk House Of Horrors”) and other bad movies (like all the Top Gun references in “Maverick”), songs about gils (“Done With Love,” “Cruising For Chicks”) and just raging in the mosh pit (“In The Pit”). There's nothing coplex about it, but there doesn't need to be and that's half the fun; the drive is good and most everything about each song – from Kody Templeman's raucous vocal and Ray Carlisle's barbed wire guitars (which sound as though they're directly descended from Karl Egerton and Milo Aukerman) to the propulsive rhythm section of Miguel Chen and Brandon Carlisle – is familiar enough that it will strike a fond memory in most every listener's mind and hold them happily captivated from the time the record starts to when it finishes. Simply said, Freak Out! is good and it's easy; and there's exactly nothing wrong with that. It's not rocket science (no pun intended), it's just really, really good.
Artist:
www.teenagebottlerocket.com/
www.myspace.com/teenagebottlerocket
www.facebook.com/teenagebottlerocketofficial
www.twitter.com/#!/teenbottlerock
Album:
Freak Out! is out now. Buy it here , directly from Fat Wreck Chords.
The problem with progress has always been that, as time marches forward and new ideas ultimately become the norm (well, if they're any good), invariably a few really good, established stylistic ideas lose ground and run the risk of being forgotten. It's unfortunate, but it's a by-product of the human condition. As true as that is though, sometimes a new document surfaces that pays close attention to some old (very dangerously near to forgotten) ideas and the effect is elating for everyone; for the true believers in the new school, that trip back can broaden horizons and ways of thinking; for those that have been around long enough to see all the changes occur as well as knowing the difference between the two, it's heartening and reassuring to know that the 'old school' hasn't become the 'obsolete school' or 'the abandoned school' just yet.
Listening to Teenage Bottlerocket's new album, They Came From Shadows prompts one of those sorts of moments. Prior to this point, TB was content to re-examine the finer points of 1-2-3-4 punk a la The Ramones but, this time out, the band unexpectedly hauls it out to the skate park to give their established design a little road rash. It works too; from the opening blur of “Skate Or Die” through the final crash of “Todays,” Teenage Bottlerocket invokes sunny memories of banana boards, pre-hardcore So Cal punk shows (an achievement for a band from Laramie, Wyoming) and that innocent time when the possibility of taking themselves seriously would draw nothing but peels of laughter and a chorus of jeers from every punk band in every scene.
The best part of such a revival and ethical return is that, stacked next to many of the punk bands currently taking space on the Top 40 chart, the fourteen songs on They Came From The Shadows stand out because they actually hold water, rock harder and, in some cases, put many of both their forebears still kicking around as well as their contemporaries to shame by playing their brand of punk better than they do. After blazing out some vintage Descendents chops (that drummer Bill Stevenson produced is just perfect – and easy to make great with his experience in the mix) through “Don't Want To Go,” “Bigger Than Kiss” and “Do What?,” Teenage Bottlerocket set their sites on bands like Rancid (“Without You” sounds like “Journey To The End Of The East Bay” but played with an enthusiasm Rancid couldn't muster anymore if you paid them) and the Offspring (there's a resemblance in “Fatso Goes Nutzoid” to “Nitro” that is more than passing), single-handedly outplay both of them with ease and throw some very bright light on just how much those bands have paled with age; even if the sounds and spirit of their older work hasn't.
Those that know will stand surprised and thrilled at the sound and those caught unfamiliar will be totally gob-smacked; they may have never heard something like this but, instinctively, they know the value of it.
Rather than stop to let the point sink in though, Teenage Bottlerocket just keeps pushing and digging in mercilessly until, right around the time they crash into “Be With You” and “The Jerk,” all comparisons fall away; with raw, mean speed and timeless (from a punk context) hooks, Teenage Bottlerocket stands unopposed to take their audience by storm and make the biggest of big impressions upon audiences. While so many of their predecessors have slowed down with age and/or softened up, Teenage Bottlerocket is now – four albums in – beginning to hit its stride as they combine the old school with new blood. That said, yes, They Came From The Shadows is really, really, good – but Teenage Bottlerocket is only on its way up from here; there's better shit to come and when you hear this album, while you'll respect it, you will also get excited to hear what comes next.
Artist:
www.teenagebottlerocket.com/
www.myspace.com/teenagebottlerocket
Download:
Teenage Bottlerocket – “Skate Or Die” – They Came From The Shadows
Album:
They Came From The Shadows is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
