photo credit: Hollie Huthman.
I’ve asserted before– at least twice here on Buddyhead– that the phrase “post-punk” is a way for lazy rock journalists to avoid describing what a band actually sounds like. In reference new bands I’ve seen it used to describe gothy dance, instrumental psych, fuzzily-recorded acoustic music and scuzzy, spazzy garage-dwellers. Its a meaningless term unless put in context (say, 1981) but it’s used so often that I *almost* threw it down for this review of “Awesomer than the Devil,” the killer new record from Seattle rockers Police Teeth.
In Police Teeth we have a band that works with punk, power pop and elements of psych to give us a record that covers a lot of ground but feels cohesive; depending on the song, you could easily throw them on a playlist next to Mission of Burma, The Thermals or Future of the Left. PT slide comfortably betwen fist-in-face aggression and noisy melody, though the album is weighted towards the latter. “Hatchet Wound City” and “Dude Handler’s Permit” combine spiking, jumpy guitar riffs with five-star hooks, while more straightforward tracks like the single “Summertime Bruise” barrel along like a burlier Superchunk in their heyday. The album closes out with a nine minute heavy-psych version of Tunnel Vision’s “Watching the Hydroplanes,” a deft cover that keeps the omninous insistence of the original but brings it to a searing climax.
Summertime Bruise by Police Teeth
Lyrically, principal songwriters James Burns and Chris Rasmussen have widened their scope; their last record (the also-rad “Real Size Monster Series”) was mainly a sarcastic-bastard take on the life of an unnoticed indie band, but “Awesomer” takes a bead on being completely fucking broke (I can relate), friendship dynamics (“Summertime Bruise” may be the most badass song about reconciliation ever penned) and an apparent fondness for the police, if the title to riff-heavy opener “Send More Cops” is any indication– they left the lyrics out. I can only assume it’s some sort of love letter to our public officers, a la thecreepy sex jam “Public Defender.”
Public Defender by Police Teeth
It’d be silly, at this point in the year, to make declarations or start compiling lists; that said, between the riffs, texture and hooks, “Awesomer Than the Devil” has already booked a high number of plays on my non-specific MP3 player of choice. Unlike a lot of rock getting big-upped these days, Police Teeth are neither unaware of their music’s roots nor are they on some sort of nostalgia kick. Simply stated, they’re pushing forward, loud and crackling. Now if there were just a lazy shorthand for their subgenre.
Rock & Roll Is A Pyramid Scheme (Parts 1 & 2) by Police Teeth
