In search of…

My vacation ended this morning at 6am when I strolled into work. However, while I was on vacation, I had the joy of being able to hit record stores on a daily basis to find new music for my radio (which I talked all about last post and will come to represent on this blog pretty regularly). Whilst shopping, I bought two new cds I’d like to talk about. Now, I get a good amount of stuff from labels and… um… other means (*cough*BitTorrent*cough*), but I actually bought these albums. As in, I bought them new, in the packaging, from an honest to God store. Without ever having heard one lick from either band, no less.

First of all, we’ve got the Pink SpidersTeenage Graffiti. My wife pretty much compares it to disposable teen lit (such as Rose of No Man’s Land), and I can’t decide if I agree. It’s fucking catchy, but the vocals are akin to bubblegum rock like the Click Five or Avril Lavigne. The lyrics are fairly mindless, too, and the instrumentation is pretty sloppy, but recorded so slickly, I can’t figure it out: is it actually good, or do I like listening to it because it’s so simple? It bears more listens, to be sure. This is one to pick up, ‘though, as it’s a fun record that is pretty much lacking in pretention.

Second is the Teenage Harlets Up The Fixx. This is straight-up, no-frills, lo-fi garage. Easy to take in, nothing to fuck with your head. These guys obviously love their Nuggets box set, minus the psychedelia. The songs are SHORT… just enough time to lodge themselves in your brain and drive you mildly insane. Insanity comes pretty quick when you’re trying to sing an entire album’s worth of songs all at once. It’s not even a half hour’s worth of material, and at that speed 22 songs just doesn’t seem like enough. I want more, dammit. Thankfully, there’s scads of old material over at their website- both to download and purchase. Out now on Springman Records, who totally deserve a lot of your money, anyway.

Teenage Harlets – “My Thrills
Pink Spiders – “Modern Swinger