Cheersquad Records & Tapes, July 8, 2020
The Meanies bring the rock and roll to Desperate Measures.
Australian band The Meanies have been around for a while, with releases dating back to the early 90’s. Desperate Measures, their first new record since the 2015 comeback It’s Not Me, It’s You, is a punk rock and roll record, with some angst and tempo and lots of classic rock and roll signifiers.
Going in, I admittedly had little knowledge of The Meanies, having heard of them but never having listened to them. Half expecting Ramones-style buzzsaw punk rock (not sure why), I checked out a couple of their records from the 90’s and found a pretty simple, straightforward, and buzzing alternative punk band that fit a lot of what was happening in the era. Desperate Measures seems mostly far removed from that.
Desperate Measures reminds me a bunch from some of the faster Queens Of The Stone Age stuff (think maybe “Go With The Flow”, “Little Sister”, or “Monsters In The Parasol”). Song after song brings QOTSA-style hard rock riffs with my favorites popping up on the accents of “All The Bought Men”, muscle car-guitars of “Cruel To Be Caned”, and the bonkers fuzz of “Drowning Towers”. “Bought Men” tosses around some cowbell, “Defcon One” drops some tambourine, and “Sousa” drips with swagger and attitude that Josh Homme and company play around with. Even more so, the QOTSA vibes run deep in the vocal melodies and harmonies on songs like “Under My Rock”, “Cruel To Be Caned”, and “Monsters”. It’s definitely different from what I expected.
Even with the rock and roll lean, Desperate Measures does have a couple of faster punk songs. Opener “Old Car To Shangri-La” hums with an enviable intensity and some bouncy quick drums. The riffs are unexpected and catchy and the chorus has a great singalong melody. “Jekyll and Hide” is another of the faster numbers. This one has an unexpected vocal melody that gets me hearing some Ramones-doing-The Beach Boys kind of thing while backing vocals throw an even more pronounced Beach Boys vibe and the guitars do a sort of fast rockabilly riff to decent effect. Like a bunch of the songs on here, much of the goodness comes in the melodies (both guitars and vocals) that get my attention by catching me off guard.
Most of the songs on Desperate Measures are different from what I typically get into and I’ll say that this isn’t the sort of record that I’ll likely be seeking out a bunch going forward. But it does have a lot of good going for it. They do the punk rock and roll thing well with a bunch of touchstones (riffs, percussion extras, harmonies) that come with a band that has taken on some new influences and learned how to play their instruments better since their more angsty and buzzing punk days. If that sounds like your thing, The Meanies Desperate Measures will be worth a listen.
You might like this if:
- You like riff-heavy fuzzy punk rock and roll with some palpable intensity
You might not if:
- You don’t want to listen to a bunch of alternative rock and roll riffs with your punk rock
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
