Teaming The Zeros’ vocalist Victor Penalosa with The Trebles’ guitarist Xavier Anaya, garage rock band The Phantoms released a full length on Rum Bar Records back in 2015. Tapping into various retro grooves and kicking off with the superbly trashy bar-room workout ‘Baby Loves Her Rock ‘n’ Roll’, the record was well received by the underground press. Two years on, the band reunited and recorded a bunch of no-frills cover tunes.
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INDONESIAN JUNK – Stars In The Night
Indonesian Junk’s self-titled 2016 debut celebrated everything that was trashy about late 70s power pop and slightly glammy punk-pop. Huge cues from the CBGBs scene informed the bulk of the music, which was potentially enjoyable in a fairly chaotic way…provided, that is, the band kept to the upbeat. The slower numbers didn’t always fare so well and on top of that, frontman Daniel James’s drawling vocals were the very pinnacle of acquired taste. In short, then, despite glimmers of something, it was an album that could – and should – have been so much better. [A full review can be read here.]
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Exclusive: Hey, Jackass! Get in here and download the new single from Justine and The Unclean for FREE!
In August ’17, Boston rockers Justine and Unclean unleashed their debut single via Rum Bar Records. A double A-sided download, ‘Love Got Me Into This Mess’ and ‘Passive Aggressive Baby’ delivered an adrenaline-shot of good old r’n’r, mixing the sounds of Ramones with something a little sweeter. The tracks retained a punky enough edge to thrill the pop-punk crowd and yet retained a little something to suggest their forthcoming album might just be a touch more varied.
SHANDA & THE HOWLERS – Trouble
Mixing the cool of old soul 45s and a dusting of various rock ‘n’ roll revival meetings, Shanda & The Howlers are the sound of trouble walkin’. With a twang and a howl, their debut full length more than proves that you don’t always need originality to make a hell of an impression – you just need tightness, guts and a whole lot of conviction. It may so often be reminiscent of many a talent from a pre-Beatle era, but the band’s debut release ‘Trouble’ is a driven and fun affair that’s sure to thrill those who love Sharon Jones and maybe even impress those who dig a few late 50s throwbacks. Simply put, ‘Trouble’ is a really classy rock ‘n’ soul revue.
INDONESIAN JUNK – Indonesian Junk
Whether conjuring memories of ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick – the song from which this US band have taken their name – or Manic Street Preachers’ deliberately provocative 1991 single ‘Motown Junk’ (how many bands would dare to snipe “I laughed when Lennon got shot!” in little over a decade since the former Beatle’s assassination?), there’s something edgy and exciting about the word junk. Whether meaning trashy or the slang for heroin, it has a certain connotation. However, Indonesian Junk really aren’t as spiky or as confrontational as their chosen moniker suggests. For this Milwaukee based trio, it’s all about the relatively lo-fi, the fuzzy guitars and a general noise rather than any actual sharp edges, either musically or lyrically.