Gutter Pop Records/Outloud! Records, July 20, 2020
The Radio Buzzkills are here to entertain you with covers.
Busted up after the COVID-related cancellation of a tour with The Jasons and Richie Ramone, St. Louis, Missouri's The Radio Buzzkills decided to kill some time recording a brief covers EP. Falling in line with previous releases (Get Lost, Get Fired), this one goes by Get Bored, and the mostly eccentric song choices make for a fun and unexpected listen.
The first two songs tackled by The Radio Buzzkills come from an alternative universe, tackling The Amps (“Full On Idle”) and The Jesus and Mary Chain (“Head On”). Each are pretty significantly different from the Ramones-worshipping stuff more common to The Buzzkills, but there are some deep down shared traits (great sort of bubblegum hooks, pretty vigorous drive, and distinct and spot on vocals) that The Buzzkills hold on to while bending the songs into their own pop punk thing. “Idle” trades out the jangly guitars and slightly obscured lofi production for buzzing wall of sound guitars and some throbbing and rattling bass. “Head On” does a similar thing, trading away the simmering verses and sort of sinister or menacing reverb for some raw and up front angst. Both come out fun.
Even stranger things happen when Get Bored pulls from the 1960's. Taking on Doris Troy's classic “Just One Look” and Bobby Edwards “You're The Reason” seemed somehow stranger than the JaMC and Amps selections. In their original form, each are vocally driven songs with great hooks, but neither are exactly bursting with punk energy. But then The Radio Buzzkills go and do great by them. “Just One Look” is my favorite on the record. They keep it mid-tempo and hold tight to the Ramones guitars and Jen Buzzkill nails the vocals, carrying the melody just right and sinking the hooks deep into my brain. “You're The Reason” is nearly its equal. Again, they keep it mid-tempo and buzzing and the sneering Zac Buzzkill vocal lead hits right, matched only by Jen's backing vocals.
Get Bored's only fairly obvious choice is their cover of The Guts “The Birds and the Bees” (The Guts being fellow travelers in the Ramones universe). Another humming mid-tempo number, The Radio Buzzkills pull in some great lead guitar and Zac and Jen hit the vocals just right again. The only thing I'm missing are the more poppy bouncing drums of The Guts original. But it's still a hit.
Get Bored is a testament to the goodness of great songs. No matter how different the source material, The Radio Buzzkills find the simple hooks and melodies and bring them out with a fun and rambunctious charm, making each their own in their own way.
You might like this if:
- You're alright with cover records and like hearing great pop hooks attached to a Ramones-style pop punk racket
You might not if:
- You don't like cover records or get all bent out of shape when bands bring the originals into their own style rather than bending the band's style to the sound of the originals
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He's very secretive, he might be an alien.