Bloated Kat Records, June 5, 2020
Pop-punker Pavid Vermin “ruins” some Lookout! classics.
Over the past year or so, Pavid Vermin (real name: Glenn Robinson) has released 41 songs spread across three full-lengths, each playing around with the Ramones blueprint and fuzzed-out guitars. In March, he gave us Cutting Corners, a 17-song record that stole the song titles from The Beatles Abbey Road only to write a bunch of songs with no connection to nor cover of The Beatles – pretty much pretending to do a covers record before pulling a fake out. Now, he’s doing a real covers record.
Lookout! Pavid Vermin Ruins Some Songs is Pavid Vermin’s take on a bunch of Lookout! Records classics. A lot of this is stuff I grew up with. He pulls some great covers of Groovie Ghoulies (“Bye Bye Brain”), Riverdales (“Judy Go Home”), and Crimpshrine (“Fucked Up Kid”), holding tight to the originals but giving them his own particular pop punk essence. These were all great songs before, and he does them well. I love his rendition of “Cryin Cryin Cryin”, originally by The Bomb Bassets. On this one, Vermin turns down the guitar fuzz to sort of get closer to the cleaner original. And my favorites of my old favorites are Vermin’s takes on The Mr. T Experience’s “Alternative Is Here To Stay” and Operation Ivy’s “Big City”, each decked out in the gloriously warm hum of his guitar. With hooks for days and genuine love in his versions, Vermin will get nearly anyone dancing and singing along. Oh yea, it should be noted that he also destroys Green Day’s “Don’t Leave Me” in all the best ways.
On Ruins Some Songs, Pavid Vermin also tackles a couple that were new to me. His version of Squirtgun’s “Coffee” works in some great melodies and is loaded with some caffeinated energy. He also does a really good cover of Go Sailor’s “Ray Of Sunshine”. As I eventually learned, the original is a sort of poppy twee song, but Vermin gets the fuzz out and levels up the energy about four notches. I love it. But my favorite of the new-to-me songs is Pansy Division’s “I Really Wanted You”. The song has this real fun 50’s bounce and chord progression throughout the verses. It’s completely endearing and the shift on the chorus caught me a bit by surprise. And the best thing I can say about all three of these songs is that Vermin does each well enough to get me seeking out the originals, all of which I ended up liking.
Lookout! Pavid Vermin Ruins Some Songs is a fun record to check out, pulling off some of my favorite songs without messing them up and doing some others well enough to give me some new music to look into. And he does it all without losing the unique and buzzing Pavid Vermin aesthetic.
You might like this if:
- You like cover records, and Lookout! Records bands
- You like fuzzy buzzy punk rock, with some Ramones-indebtedness
You might not if:
- You don’t like cover records, nor Lookout! Records bands
- You’re a dreaded fun-hater
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
