All Star Records, 30 November 2020
The Queers are here to Save The World with bubblegum punk goodness.
This year has been kind of fantastic on the new record front for me. It all started with the physical release of a new Dark Thoughts record. Must Be Nice was great and was followed by other fantastic records by newer bands like Grim Deeds (and Lesser Creatures), The Putz, and Bad Secret (not to mention the yet-to-be-released Zoanoids album). Remarkably, the year has also seen some blasts from the more distant past. The Mr. T Experience embarked on a massive remaster/reissue campaign that began with a fan-assisted compilation and was then followed by reissues starting with …And The Women Who Love Them. Screeching Weasel dropped Some Freaks Of Atavism, my favorite new record from them in at least twenty years and The Manges Punk Rock Addio more than left a mark. And now The Queers are here to Save The World with bubblegum punk goodness.
Save The World has some of my favorite melodies of the year. The incredibly inane “Cheeto In a Speedo Eating a Burrito” bounces and pops with an infectious chorus and an outro that is to die for – maybe my favorite moment on the record. Plus, they work some “ooga-chaka”'s into the backing vocals. The Hong Kong airport saga “Hong Fucking Kong” has a bunch of pep, an earworm melody, and maybe my favorite backing vocals on the record. It even has handclaps, pulling me even deeper. “Bubblegum Girl” has awesome organ and great “bom bom, bom-bom” backing vocals, and the key change near the end is addictive. And “Nightmare To Deal With” has one of my favorite choruses on the record with fantastic harmonizing backing vocals provided by The Dollyrots Kelly Ogden. Likewise, the simplistic melodic-cool and rhythmic shifts of “Shit for Brains” and the dumb and juvenile speed romp “Young Dumb and into Iron Maiden” also deserve mention, with both sinking in deep with musical hooks and singalong moments riding on the back of some quick drums.
And when they slow things down and go the route of classic-era rock and roll, they hit it right. Songs like the sugary “My Heart's In The Right Place”, with its Beach Boys-copped backing vocals and double tap snare hits, feel downright sweet. On “If I Had A Girl Like You”, the band wallows in clean guitar lines, simple vocal cadences, and a singalong melody. And the vocal harmonies (again helped out by Ogden) come straight from the era of malt shops and sock hops.
Even when they get more aggressive (with shades of Angry Samoans sometimes, maybe coming through), the songs still provide melodies and hooks that won't go away easily. Whether it's the darker serrated edges of “Fanculo a Tutti”, the snotty angst-ridden and chorus-led opener “Attack of the 5 Foot Bitch”, or the sort of topical and heavy mid-tempo bash “White Power Feud in Atlanta”, The Queers can buzz and kick up a bunch of heavier dust while holding tight to melodies and hooks that stick around.
The Queers Save The World is some pretty wondrous bubblepunk goodness. There's angst and irreverence and bite in the songs, but there's also so many catchy singalong moments and contagious melodies that you'll keep coming back for more.
Favorite song: “Hong Fucking Kong”
Favorite moment: the outro of “Cheeto in a Speedo Eating a Burrito”
Favorite whatever else: the various band backing vocals (“ooga-chaka” and “bom bom, bom-bom's”) and harmonies from Ogden are spot on and really get the record next level
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He's very secretive, he might be an alien.