A Bunch Of Jerks – “Shart Topping Hits”
A lot of people rightly accuse TNB as being “a bunch of jerks.” And I, for one, strongly disagree.
I always point out that there’s only two of us- Andy and I, so in no way do we qualify as “a bunch.”
Though, in the jerk category? Why, yes! I have no evidence to present that would indicate otherwise while others have lots of evidence to back up that claim.
Now, with this band- I don’t know them personally, but I’m pretty sure they’re probably anything but jerks.
Hey! If you were in a band with a bunch of drug addicts you surely wouldn’t call yourself The Junkies?
(Editor’s note: At one point Johnny Thunders wanted to change the name of his group from The Heartbreakers to The Junkies!)
But I guess for some reason, people expect me to write about music in a music review. Which I never can really fathom, but I shall do so, now- once again.
This band is a great mixture of punk, pop, new wave and rock and have a lot of spicy, hot ingredients that form their recipe- such as excellent song writing, fun and meaningful lyrics and impeccable musicianship.
Sounds pretty tempting to me, let’s take a taste:
“Hey motherfucker! You’re looking good tonight. I want your finger, you’re doing something nice!” So begins “Motherfucker”, a song that suggests what early Kiss might’ve been singing if they had more freedom in their lyrics back then.
This song also gets me thinking- What can be accomplished by just one little finger? “I move my lips, I’m shakin’ my hips, round and round and round.”
Sure, there’s some fancy and excellent musical interlude in the middle of this song, right where one might want to place one’s finger.
But let me state my case, that this is a punk song and a great one at that. My favorite song on this release…motherfucker.
“Whiskey Fight” slides out with a Cuban/Latin/Bo Didley beat much like The Pretenders did with the great tune “Cuban Slide” a few years ago.
This song is wonderfully rhythmic, propulsive and poppin’ with energy and slashing, guitar that should make you move and soar and dance and drink but hopefully, not fight.
“With you, I knew, there was not much else to do. But you and me, swinging there in the breeze.” So goes “End Of A Rope” a tale of love once found but lost again, in a style that recalls to me, the band Hole at their finest.
It has an easy, if intense, rockin’ beat with vocals that are pained with emotion and sorrow. There’s also a neat, swooping guitar solo that descends upon our ears most delightfully, that makes me think of the band Television.
A bit of modulation towards the end before they bring the song back to the cold, hard truths. A sad, but bittersweet, excellent tune.
After a guitar lick that for some reason conjures up The Yardbirds for me, (it’s okay if you don’t catch that reference)- “Twisting On The Edge” comes in with a groove, vocal and guitar line that suggests vintage B-52’s.
A bridge/breakdown goes: “Here I go again, another sleepless night. We all really know, I need my beauty sleep. But it’s everywhere, it’s all over me…Why can’t they just let me be?”
It’s not really clear to me what’s bothering the narrative but I am sure this song is pure pleasure to my ears. My second favorite tune on this release.
As a big David Bowie fan I cannot ignore a cover of his great and unique song “Moonage Daydream.” And so Stabby, the singer, puts her own valid and very good interpretation on this song, her “Spiders From Mars” or perhaps her “Musicians From JP”-(Jamaica Plain) create a wonderful rendition.
So these bunch of jerks seem to align themselves with no one as their bandcamp tags are merely “rock” and “Boston”.
Which, coincidently, are the tags Andy and I use on our new music project which is a tribute band to the band Boston.
We call ourselves “Des Moines,” for obvious reasons. And we play all their songs in a country rock/power violence style.
But I think Malibu Lou from Rum Bar Records says it best when describing this band A Bunch Of Jerks-
“If The Plasmatics walked into a bar and walked out with The Dickies, Captain Sensible, a few Misfits, George “The Animal” Steele and The Rezillos, you would totally get where they’re coming from.”
I mistakenly thought this release was called “Chart Topping Hits” which in a fair world that would be the reality. But it’s actually “Shart Topping Hits”- “shart” means “to expel feces accidentally when breaking wind.”
Something we can all aspire to, indeed.
But I really do feel that in a fair world this album would have many chart topping hits from this fine, fun release by this great band.
But then, I suppose, in a fair world, I’d be locked away by now.
(Slimedog)
