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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School Damage – “Critical Excess”
Mom’s Basement Records, 16 April 2021
Opening with some guitar and angst-ridden vocals, School Damage put up a raucous good time on “Critical Excess”. The music is buzzing and full of their typical energy and the lead guitar middle section is really cool. But the vocals really pull this one together. They carry the melody and the phrasing is pointed and right on. And most importantly, they drip with attitude. I’ve listened to a little bit of School Damage before, but have never been quite so smitten as I am with this song.
Favorite song: “Critical Excess”
The Labor Pains – “Easy Target”
Laptop Punk Records, 1 April 2021
I don’t know The Labor Pains, but they apparently hail from the same neck of the woods as The Queers. Geography isn’t all they share. There’s clearly an appreciation for bubblegum in there and some shots of antagonism, too. My favorite stuff comes with the contagious melodies and backing vocals on leadoff “I Don’t Wanna Be”. The snotty attitude-drenched mid-tempo number “Easy Target” is pretty cool, too, as is the riff on the blistering closer “Eight Legged Freaks”. I’m liking this quite a bit.
Favorite song: “I Don’t Wanna Be (With Anyone Tonight)”
Yee Loi – “Be Like Johnny”
Self-released, 8 April 2021
UK sister band Yee Loi have done lots of covers over the past couple of years and have a real thing for Ramones. So it’s no surprise that their first released original is a call up to Johnny Ramone. The song is simplistic mid-tempo bubblegum with fun singalong vocals and some great “ooh-wah-ooh” backing vocals. There’s no frills here, and yea, it’s gonna come off as derivative. But that’s not the point. The song is catchy and fun. What more do we need? Quit being a snob and enjoy stuff.
Favorite song: “Be Like Johnny”
Teenage Fanclub – “In Our Dreams”
Merge Records, 15 April 2021
Teenage Fanclub is one of those bands that I don’t always have in my mind, but I always like when I hear whatever they’re doing. “In Our Dreams” comes from the upcoming Endless Arcade. Simply, the song’s exquisite. It sounds like classic pop rock, with gorgeous guitars, something organesque sneaking through the horizon, and subtle and warm vocals that pull you in and get you humming along. This is the sophisticated sort of stuff that is fantastic come down music for a drive home after a long night out, just as dawn is hinting at an appearance.
Favorite song: “In Our Dreams”
Grim Deeds – “There’s Only You”
Self-released, 13 April 2021
“There’s Only You”, in which Deeds is a hopeless romantic. The guitars play a cool up-and-down-and-up again melody while the song cruises along at a bouncy mid-tempo pace. The vocal melody is catchy as the flu but leaves you smiling and tapping along instead of puking. And the “love-is-in-the-air-no-matter-what-you-do” lyrics can read as sweet commitment or intoxicatingly dependent. No matter, the song is a catchy good time and is gonna land well.
Favorite song: “There’s Only You”
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
