Teenage Bottlerocket - Freak Out

As member of the third, at the very least, wave of Ramone clone bands, it's particularly interesting to me that my inner hater hasn't driven a gi-normous wedge between me and Laramie, WY awesome purveyors of said same Teenage Bottlerocket. There is the bizarre eventuality of their playing the infamous Chixdiggit show at the Leonard St. Knit a million years ago and my being totally bored, and my having missed their sets at a couple Insubordination Fests in a row, but luckily I have come to my senses in more recent years and signed on heavy. Freak Out is record number five for the foursome, and their second for Fat. All parties involved can rest assured that if you like(d) yourself some Teenage Bottlerocket, there is nothing here to bring the love affair to a screeching halt. Still sounds like they fell for Screeching Weasel before they found about The Ramones, but that ain't the worst thing in the world, especially as the gents are some youngsters and all.

Fourteen songs on Freak Out, but still things wrap tidily in under a half-hour. It's not without its cheesiness (I give to the court: Necrocomicon and Punk House Of Horror) and the swagger on tracks like Cruising For Chicks does not exist without the heady air of nerdiness, but Freak Out is far from a bad time, and if you are lacking enough in taste that you don't like it, things are over in short enough order that you'll have ample time to get on with your lesser musical selections. TBR are touring, so step lively and look out for JS-NYC to be very much in the house next month when they hit Santos.

In the interim, keep track of Teenage Bottlerocket here and get Freak Out here from your buddies over at the Fat.

R

Teenage Bottlerocket - Another Way reissue

How I couldn't have fallen for Teenage Bottlerocket when I first encountered them still confounds me, but as I saw them at the ill-fated Chixdiggit show I can't shut up about, perhaps I will leave all that negative energy in the sub-basement of what used to be the second Knitting Factory. Eight years on from the release of their first 12", Red Scare has re-released Another Way in remastered form, along with their debut EP A-Bomb and the track from their split with Bob The Welder. It's a neat package that wraps up the early Teenage Bottlerocket years nicely. Personally, I would snatch this up just for a remastered version of Mini Skirt, but lovers of new school Ramones jocking would do well to snap up the reissue of Another Way. Here's a link.

R

Teenage Bottlerocket - They Came From The Shadows

Teenage Bottlerocket is another band that has really got under my skin (in a good way) in the last couple months. Their CMJ set this year was a real rager that Luke and I really enjoyed a ton. I revisited all their records after that and continue to be astounded that I wasn't as into them the three times I had see them previously. I'm sure I've whined here previously about the show at the Leonard St. Knit TBR played with Chixdiggit where the Alberta crew was utterly terrible, with a thrown together band backing KJ that barely knew any songs. The TBR kids offered to back KJ to try and salvage the proceedings, but it was all in all a total disappointment that probably tainted my feelings about these proud sons of Laramie.

I seem to have put that behind me now. I can now state definitively that if you like the Ramones, and by proxy your Riverdales and your Screeching Weasels, you would be hard pressed not to enjoy TBR in general and They Came From The Shadows in particular. The addition of Kody has expanded their sound slightly, but Teenage Bottlerocket aren't broken and they aren't about to try and fix it. It's odd that a wizened old man like myself would take to songs like Skate Or Die or The Jerk, but I have and, judging by the number of times I've played this and the rest of the TBR stuff of late, I will continue to do so. Please do the same and buy They Came From The Shadows from Fat via this link. Note: leather motorcycle jacket not included.

R

Live: CMJ showcase @ Europa featuring Teenage Bottlerocket, Cobra Skulls, Jon Snodgrass and Joey Cape, Banner Pilot and Higher Giant 10.25.9

Initially, the reason for the season for my attendance at this show was seeing Banner Pilot, who I adore. They have taken over the mantle from Two Cow Garage as the band that I travel long distances to either miss outright or play way too short sets. I had taken the L on the last two BP shows I tried to see, but even my shitty job did not make me miss the proceedings.

I got inside in time to catch the end of the Higher Giant set. Featuring Ernie Parada from a million awesome bands that started with Token Entry, they played a bunch of Queens accented punk rock not all that far from previous Parada franchises like Grey Area. They got a good response, despite their lead-off spot. Their new record is out courtesy of the good folk of The Black Numbers. Get it here.

Twin cities powerhouse Banner Pilot made their live debut for me next, playing a decent, but not fabulous show that leaned heavily on new stuff from their Fat debut Collapser. There were some sound issues, most of them seemingly precipitated by the front of house guy, but it was a decent set. I would have liked to hear more stuff from the first EP, but a good showing from the gents. I would have liked to have seen a longer set, but hopefully it won't be another four years til the next NYC show.

Jon Snodgrass and Joey Cape played next, reprising their increasingly frequent duo set for the first show of their most recent tour. While there was a small but vocal crew of Cape obsessives drinking their way to nirvana, I would say it was a Snodgrass room. Neither disappointed, but suffice to say I'm a Snodgrass proponent. Why he is not hugely famous I'm not sure, but I'm going to enjoy seeing him in the small rooms for as long as I can. You should see both of those jokers at Bar Nine tomorrow night, or for free at Maxwells on Monday. JS-NYC will be all up in those shows. You should be, too.

Cobra Skulls (from Reno) were up next. There has been a big buzz about them lately, so I got their records and found them to be pretty staggeringly underwhelming from where I was listening. I thought maybe the live show would sway me, but I literally took a nap after the first couple songs. Jack Terricloth was evidently out to see them, but unless you can have someone on that level to talk to during their set, I'd save your cash. Probably one of the most overrated things I've heard in a long while.

Luke was all about seeing Teenage Bottlerocket, as they hail from his hometown of Laramie, so I stuck around. I don't remember them rocking my world when they came through last time with the Copyrights and Unlovables, and I'm almost positive they were not good at the show at Knit with Chixdiggit, but they sure kicked my ass from note one to note last this time around. Wow-ee!! More hooks than a tackle box and a gang of song-along choruses that rival their aforementioned touring partners. It was a good move snapping up that guy from the Lillingtons. It fleshes out the sound a bit and while I would say that I prefer Ray's songs, Teenage Bottlerocket are a great fucking time. The Poison cover is a slippery slope, but it shouldn't keep you from snapping all their records up stat. They just dropped a new one called They Came From The Shadows on Fat that I haven't heard, but will soon be rectifying that situation. Look for a review soon but in the interim do whatever you need to to see Teenage Bottlerocket. Them boys kick some serious ass. Thanks to Luke for coming out, too!

R