Broken Stereo – “Demo 2015”
Broken Stereo is the name of this band.
I was thinking, is this referencing an old term of something in the past- like “home entertainment system.” I know that at one time, every young music lover had a stereo.
Now, I guess it’s all i-phones, i-pads and for me, -i don’t know how to work this.
But, hey, I only listen to music on my laptop now and hardly ever CD’s. It’s bandcamp or youtube for me.
But I bring this up ’cause this band is bit of a throwback to me.
Broken Stereo may put terms like crust and hardcore on their bandcamp tags but this is punk’n’roll meaning- traditional punk that mixes punk with rock’n’roll and garage rock.
This is the kind of music that Andy and I grew up with in Boston in the eighties. When I mentioned this to Franklin at one of their gigs, their guitarist, he said, “I take that as a compliment.”
As well as he should as I meant it to be.
And if you give this band I listen I think you’ll like them too.
“Ten Thousand Crimes” shouts out with three chords and a beat that drives a dagger into your heart and enough energy and passion to replenish all the barren wasteland of California. This is tight, pounding, power pop punk rock and should knock you off your seat and out of your socks like an earthquake on the Andrea’s Fault. “And I’m feeling like the perfect crime/ And I’m stealing/ And my hearts on fire.” Not sure if I have the words correct but I do know that this song is moving forward with all pistons blaring. There’s a little breakdown where the drummer’s probably twirling sticks as the guitars start jangling. “Look out your window/ Looks like there’s someone out there.” All paranoid and sinister, and it increases with passion and intensity into a glorious chorus, like stars exploding in the sky or emotions erupting in your heart with the drummer beating a race to the finish. It’s gotta be a crime for a song to sound this good.
“Ill Medicine” starts with some smashing power chords and once the song starts turning there’s a bit of The Who in the vocals, who were an inspiration to the early English punk bands. But this one pushes harder and burns with more passion than any classic rock band ever had. The vocals are a little bit strangled. The drummer’s cymbals ringing with the bass melodically plowing away. An actual good guitar solo leads to poignant lyrical display of “Yeah” seven times done twice. I can only say- yeah, I like this song as much.
“I got my education on the street/ Down with the rats and punks.” That’s how “I’m From Boston, Fuck You,” starts. It’s like a simmering powder keg that soon explodes with lots of crashing guitars and rolling drums. “And I don’t know if I can get it off my mind.” Once this catchy song got in my mind it was hard to get it out of my ears, too. The title is repeated as the beat switches to a one hit to the beat onward assault as the guitars adds a nice melodic lick to the proceedings. A great tune.
I’ve heard people say, “All beer is good.” I’ve heard them say, “All pizza is good,” or “All sex is good.”
All excellent points, but for me, all punk is good. And I don’t mean to say that every punk band is good but, if you have that germ, that infection. If you have the essence of punk- true punk in your music then, I think you can’t go wrong.
Sure, there’s some pop/punk that sucks but that’s only because it’s more pop than punk, more slick than grit, dishonest instead of honest, insincere instead of being sincere.
I think some country is punk, I think some jazz. Probably some classical, too- I’d like to think of John Cage and Phillip Glass as punks and I’m thinking they may have, or are, all right with that.
My point is- try not to pigeonhole punk into your favorite category. Be open to it all- “It’s all good” as the young folks say.
Pop/punk, skate/punk, hardcore, acoustic/punk- I guess I could tally all of the off shoots, all of the terms.
But I’d rather say- when it hits you hard in the heart, in the mind, in the soul- when it doubles you over with laughter and pain and amazement all at the same time.
When it hits short, hard, true and pure- then you don’t need a writer giving you a definition.
You just need to listen to yourself, your instinct and beliefs.
And not listen to me.
And listen to Broken Stereo.
(Slimedog)
