Comments: The Scouflaws from Wakefield, Massachusetts offer free cake at their shows. They also offer great tunes, some of which are on this Demolicious demo. They’re kind of like the Smith Westerns of yesteryear— formed in 2007/all members under 18 years old. The Smith Westerns didn’t write “Crazy Desert Island Cats” at age 14. The Scouflaws did. Of course, “Crazy” is cheesy (there are ‘meows!’), but between the congruous bass line and four chord guitar progression, it’s the lack of adornment that makes this song memorable and convivial. The next song, “Stupid and Catchy,” is a mesh between Green Day style punk and Cymbals Eat Guitars esque drum + keyboard play. The final song on the demo “Punch” is my favorite. It’s got a neat garage rock feel to it. Not to mention it’s really catchy and standout-ish. Plus when the song gets REAL FUNKY, it gets REAL AWESOME. Keep an eye on these guys.
“I Thought” is a pop tune about doing whatever you want. People might think they know what you’re going to do. In fact, you think you know what you’re going to do. You’re feeling squirrely. It’s the first song that I wrote that is more than guitar/vocal. I came up with the bass riff first and just went from there adding in a couple guitar riffs. The drumming is pretty mindless as is the toy piano/guitar solo at the very end. I think I panned certain instruments left/right so check it out on headphones.
“I’m Your Little Daddy” is one of the more punk angled tunes I’ve composed. It’s totally lyrically inspired by Nobunny. It’s about a kid who aspires to simply get into his lover’s bed and does that…but goes too far and becomes a little daddy. I tried my best at a distorted guitar solo.
“Pick Yourself Down” was recorded shortly after I began playing with an acoustic sounding effect. It’s about this uncle who has the flu and is just ranting. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Retrospecting back to their We Did Not Know The Flower Spirit days, Black Lips have released another new tune! You couldn’t get such a contrasting tune if you tried. “Before You Judge Me” is bluesy, 200 Million Thousand “Body Combat” esque while “Best Napkin” is screechy with those “M.I.A” guitar sounds. Jared Swilley sounds more like Khan singing Almighty Defenders than himself. I’m really liking this one. I sort of over-reacted to “Before You Judge Me.” It’s great, but this one is just an awesome nod to old times and mischief.
The Pool Parties held on the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn are back again this summer! No Age and The Strange Boys are just about the only names that stick out to me. I tried to catch No Age at one of their Williamsburg shows last year except it poured. It poured hard. Figuring it got canceled (which I think it did), we ditched Brooklyn. No Age is set to play on July 25, but August 1 would have been much better, ‘yo. That’s because I might be going on the Black Lips NYC cruise on the 2nd. I would have been in town. There’s a shot the Lips could play that August 1 date. The bands haven’t been announced yet.
Band: The Crusaders of Love Release: 2010 Label: Douchemaster
1. “Better When I’m Gone” – B+ 2. “Shot to the Heart” – B- 3. “Good Time All the Time” – B+ 4. “Little Mind” – B+ 5. “Braving Hell” – A- 6. “Can’t Get Enough” – A- 7. “It Doesn’t Change a Thing” – A- 8. “Time” – A 9. “If You Want to Try” – A- 10. “Looking For Us” – B 11. “Looking For a Heart” – A-
Comments: Crusaders of Love have the power-pop thing down pat. There’s not much changing up of things, so I can’t find too many stand-out tracks among the first four tracks. I do dig the punk-lite naivete, which really comes out on the rest of the album. It’s hard not to like the perceived care-free aesthetic of a young band just jamming out and having fun. They’ve got a release on Die Slaughterhaus so if I say they have a similar energy/MO of early Black Lips I don’t think I’d be too far off. Also, I never would have guessed these guys were from France.
The Nobunny concert review will be coming real real soon, but in the mean time I want to direct your attention to one of the opening bands that stuck out: The Maine Coons. The duo rocked in the spirit of the late King Khan & BBQ Show. There was the Sultan-esque drummer/guitarist/vocalist, but no Khan figure. Instead, there was a sitting keyboard player. A song that really stuck out to me was “H.L.I.I.G.T.F.Y.T.F.G” which stands for:
How long is it gonna take for you to find God!?
It’s a surf-doo-wop-(gospel?)oldie sounding number that you must check out right now:
Reminds me of Arctic Monkeys song “Brianstorm” except the other way around:
“I wish my name was Brian because maybe sometimes people would misspell my name and call me Brain. That’s like a free compliment and you don’t even gotta be smart to notice it.”
Just funny:
“I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.”
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 