First Impressions is a collection of whiz-bang reviews, primarily of shorter albums (EPs and singles) which are given a review after a single listen. This is a great way for TGEFM to showcase some of the releases which wouldn’t get a full review on their own.
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Brents – “Fine Art”
Laptop Punk Records, 7 July 2021
The Boise, Idaho duo Brents Fine Art opens with a buzzing pop racket called “Bleeding Heart”. There’s some angst in the verse, but it really goes on the chorus with a singalong vocal hook, some rattling melodic bass, and a spot-on guitar lead. Good stuff. The second song, “Monica”, has a darker, sorta hoarse lead vocal on the chugging verse, and again the chorus gets catchy and I’m singing “she wants me dead” repeatedly before it’s done. Another cool guitar lead, too. And I dig the back-and-forth vocal trade-offs. Check it out for sure.
Favorite song: “Bleeding Heart”
Review by RYAN
Covert Flops – “Agent For H.A.R.M.”
Self-released, 8 July 2021
Covert Flops new single is a pretty straight-faced take on Riverdales Invasion U.S.A. song “Agent For H.A.R.M.”. The original is a buzzing rhythmic-hook filled Ramones homage with lots of memorable guitar chord change-ups and the Flops version keeps all those in tact. They even play to pretty much the same tempo. They nail it, and the song falls in line with the great tradition of exacto Ramones covers (see Screeching Weasel doing Ramones or The Queers Rocket To Russia), though this is obviously a cover of a terrific Ramones-aping band, not the Ramones themselves.
Review by RYAN
All Alone – “It’s Over”
Self-released, 25 June 2021
“It’s Over” is the new single from Tennessee’s All Alone. It’s a bouncy buzzy pop punk number. The lead guitar and sorta reverbed buzzing rhythm guitars crunch go on at a mid-tempo and the snotty vocals sing with hooks. The lyrics seem to be sorta celebratory about an ending relationship and have a kinda over-the-top dramatic direction (which is admittedly not exactly my go to). No matter, the song has hooks and is pretty catchy as far as this stuff goes.
Review by RYAN
Ricky Rochelle – “Look at the Sun”
Laptop Punk Records, 9 July 2021
Opening with some feedback and pounding stomp drums, the song jumps outta the speakers with a bunch more aggression than I was expecting from Ricky Rochelle. It’s got an agitated and insistent guitar riff and angst-ridden vocals and the whole song feels like it’s on the verge of taking off into something rapidfire, but then doesn’t. Instead, it rumbles to a pinpoint stop at 47 seconds and leaves you feeling off-balance. I like it when songs do that. This one’s the simmer before a riot.
Review by RYAN
Cuffed Up – “Canaries”
Royal Mountain Records, 13 July 2021
This is my first time hearing Cuffed Up, and I gotta say I’m getting some Sonic Youth vibes. It leads with a noisy and sorta creepy post-punk drive with a bunch of atmosphere. And then it builds into a controlled-chaos din that seems to lean hard into feedback and guitar effects. Each time it simmers to a boil, it comes back and falls into a recognizable song structure. When I’ve heard some of this sort of thing lately, it tends to fall back into overtly pop overtures. Not this one. It’s tense as an angsty noise blast.
Review by RYAN
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We’re currently discussing adding this feature, so it turns out your a bit psychic?