Self-released, July 11, 2020 (re-mixed, re-mastered)
Pea Shooter kick out some real deal pop punk hooks.
Pea Shooter are an off-my-radar band from the 1990’s. No idea who they are or whether other people know of them or what. But I missed them the first time around apparently. Now with all this COVID-related downtime, the band has decided to re-master and release this old recording. Called East Coover Redux, it features a bunch of songs written over a fifteen year span but not recorded until 2007, and it rips.
East Coover Redux gets me going and leaves my mouth agape wondering where my head was when I didn’t find Pea Shooter the first time around. It’s pretty great pop punk, something I would’ve worn out in high school. Instead, I get to play it on repeat twenty or so years later.
East Coover buzzes like the best Ramones-influenced bands, nothing too soft, but also nothing so abrasive that the pop hooks and bubblegum smacks are obscured. Songs like “Jessy” and “976” have hooks that are contagious. “Jessy”’s got some great guitar riffs and a hooky bridge that leads to a fantastic singalong chorus and “976” is much the same but way different with some almost kid-toy-keys thrown into the mix. “Cheating” has harmonies that just completely destroy me and “Coming On” throws in some cool hooky synths. The keys leave a mark on “Out West”, too, and get paired up with one of my favorite choruses on the record. It’s so simple it’s almost maddening. Even three-minute-plus closer “Quarter Past Two” gets the guitars all fuzzy on the bridge and then drops the guitars away to let the bass do some heavy lifting part way through, snaring you with more earworms along the way. It’s just catchy hooks and singalongs all over the place on this one.
Pea Shooter does my favorite thing in music: they write a great simple song, they record it, and they move on. Ramones knew this trick. Buddy Holly knew this. Even 1910 Fruitgum Company knew this. I’m not sure what I was doing to miss Pea Shooter the first time through, but I’m happy as can be that I’m listening now.
“Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.”
– Pete Seeger
You might like this if:
- You like 90’s-style Ramones-influenced pop punk stuff with some pretty buzzing sound and some pretty bouncy pop hooks
You might not if:
- You’re not into singalongs
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
