First Impressions are whiz-bang reviews of singles, 7″s, EPs, and LPs which are given a review after a single listen. This is a great way for TGEFM to showcase some of the releases which may not get a full review on their own.
Monster Zero Records, 03 Feb 2023
Dumbheads new one, Gonna Kick Your Ass, really lives up to both the band name and the album title. Released on the fantastic Monster Zero, the album slipped by into the night without my noticing, but that’s all rectified now and I’m all the better for it.
The 5-song Gonna Kick Your Ass is tight Ramonescore stuff with a fast and hook-laden push that moves it towards early 90’s Screeching Weasel territory. I might even get a sorta misanthropic Apocalypse Hoboken vibe from this stuff – not so much in sound as in intent. The guitars sound like buzzsaws and they play some grossly memorable riffs along the way and the bass keeps pace nicely, not doing anything attention-grabbing, but not doing anything less-than-solid either. The drums just keep hitting in my head like a battering ram – no nuance and no need for any. And then there’s the vocals. The singer sounds fed up with society while spouting off dumb-angry-desperate lyrics. My favorites are probably the opening pair, the requisite punk rock spell-out song “D.U.M.B.H.E.A.D.S” and the irritated spit-out “I’m Down, Baby” (I particularly love the repeated chorus on that one). That said, the back-and-forth vocals on “Alcoholic” are memorable and both “Bad Trip” and “Stuck In My Head” have guitars that burrow deep into my brain. This is fun stuff.
- Favorite Song: “I’m Down, Baby”
- Album Release Date: 03 Feb 2023
- Purchase/Pre-Order/Pre-Save: Bandcamp
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ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
