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...REVIEWS !!
BARRERACUDAS
Can Do Easy LP
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BEAT (US) Sep 2015 here
The Barreracudas have finally returned with their brand-new full-length release,
Can Do Easy (Oops Baby Records, 2015). The LP cover features the five members
going to battle in a world of post-apocalyptic rubble, clutching their instruments
like weapons of warfare. It seems fitting since this could be the album to take
the band over the hill and out of their cult-like status of underground rock.
For those who don’t know, The Barreracuda’s (or ‘Cudas for
short) are the biggest smart aleck’s in rock ‘n’ roll. It
takes a certain kind of brashness to call one’s debut album Nocturnal
Missions (Douchemaster Records, 2011), which featured songs about foot sex.
In the last four years the band performed fewer than most groups do in a single
tour and had released a mere two singles. What they may lack in quantitative
musical output, they more than make up for in quality releases more likely to
wear down your record needle before you get tired of hearing them. Like an arcade
Whack-A-Mole game, the Atlanta-based 5-piece pop up only now and again to remind
you of their presence. And that presence is huge. As front man and band namesake
Adrian Barrera boasts, “I can’t promise that you’ll love me,
but you probably will.” And he’s right. Can Do Easy begins as a
fly on the wall at a house party (listen closely to hear fellow famed ATL-iens
Chase Tail and Tuk Smith!) before ripping into the album opener “The Jerk,”
which sounds like a more playful version of Blitz’ “New Age.”
Up next is a revamped and revved-up return of “Promises.” The faster
tempo is an absolute improvement on the single version released late last year.
“Backup Plan” is one of the album’s most lyrically sincere
tracks and will be stuck in your head all day from the brief Thin Lizzy-esque
guitar-monies between Warren Bailey and Milton Chapman. Best yet is the chanting
outro, “You better call somebody else!” which gives the listener
that The Barreracudas are not just a band: they’re a gang that’s
more TUFF than raw steak. “Stoned on Love” and “Shampoo”
reinstate Barrera’s mastery at making an absurd concept into pop perfection.
The former track is a beyond-clever song about getting wasted off the fairer
sex where metaphors become reality. The latter track is about getting close
to a girl to smell like her shampoo, as Barrera rifles off ingredients from
rosemary to wild cherry. It’s an extremely difficult maneuver to make
rock ‘n’ roll humorous, but The Barreracudas, simply put, are fucking
funny. Still, a listener will never lose grip that this is rock ‘n’
roll. Both Tom Petty and Bill Murray would be proud. Thematically, “Playliens”
is reminiscent of the Misfits’ “Children in Heat” or “Teenagers
From Mars.” The ultra-tight breakdown between bassist George Reese and
drummer Todd Galpin before Barrera screams “Go!” also brings to
mind Lodi’s own, but it’s hard and it’s fun. It also shows
the band’s wider influence of the rock genre before the concluding cameo
by none other than Drew “Personal” Cramer of Personal & The
Pizzas. Side B begins with a most triumphant guitar call to battle with “Make
My Own Rules.” Paired with “Nasty Boots,” it’s the sassiest
song on the album, and these two tracks show their Heartbreakers (Thunders)
side versus their Heartbreakers (Petty) side. “Nasty Boots” isn’t
too different from the single version released on Windian in 2012, but hey,
if the nasty tape is still sticky, why tear it apart? “Long Explanation”
is a track you can really drive your car to, and that’s a very key factor
in making a good rock record. Try stopping yourself from drumming on the steering
wheel to that one, I double-dog dare ya! “Diet Coke” may be America’s
most foul-tasting soda, but it’s also the most refreshing track on the
album. With its Billy Idol-styled guitar melody, it’s bubbly and bouncy
and about getting blue balls at a rock show. This was also a B-Side to the very
first Barreracuda’s “Dog Food” single (2010) and fans will
be elated to hear it reappear on a long play format. “Cut Me Loose”
is a track I could actually hear on mainstream rock radio. Relax! I mean that
as a compliment. The lyrics are so simple and dumbed down that it’s actually
quite brilliant, and the melody progressions in the pre-choruses are emotional
and hook-driven. These guys make a song stick stronger than your dad’s
porno mags. The album closes with “Dreamin’.” The ‘Cudas
take the Sticky Fingers exit strategy in that this is the band at its most honky
tonk. It’s a cutesy, playful song to be sung out on the range under a
big southern sky, and an apropos sendoff since you’ll be dreaming of the
next Barreracuas full-length, probably due out around 2020. Until then, you’ll
want to obey Personal’s second cameo command and flip the record over.
Twelve songs packed into less than 31 minutes is a testament to The Barreracudas
power in brevity. Either on stage or on recording, they never leave an audience
bored or exhausted. They don’t overcomplicate songs. It’s not called
Can Do Progressively. And rather than defining themselves as a garage band or
a power pop act or a punk group, The Barreracudas refuse to pigeonhole themselves.
These are rock songs that sound like rock songs, and this is an album that will
make you fall back in love with rock ‘n’ roll. Can Do Easy.With
so much ease, it truly does. (Dave Feldman)
über
rock (UK) Sep 2015 For every band that gets gushed over by the likes
of Kerrang or Vive Le Rock there is always another that's probably better or
has released an album that's fallen between the cracks with not so much as polite
applause let alone a ticker tape fanfare, so seeing as Uber Rock always champions
the bands you should be listening to I'm gonna let you in on another... and
the name is Barreracudas. Sure, it's a mouthful but once you drop the
needle in the groove you'll be overcome with emotion and wonder how the magazines
have managed not to be singing from the roof tops again. Getting this party
on plastic off to a jaw dropping flyer 'Jerk' is 2:19 seconds of unadulterated
pleasure. From the rumbling bass line to the screaming guitar lick and the honey
dripping vocals, this is an absolute fuckin' blast, homies, and I know it and
now you know it. Lyrics that know what time it is and if nothing else works
be a jerk! Right? Right! 'Promises' is up next and what a song. From the loose
arrangement and the barely happening bass line to the superb vocal harmonies
to the hook of the chorus this is instant gratification and the echo on the
vocals is magic. If you want heavy lyrics then you better get the hell out of
here unless boy meets girl - boys tries to impress girl - boy pulls girl or
fails epically and writes a song about it then, welcome, we've been expecting
you. 'Backup Plan' is like the Jags never happened. What a glorious tune! Thumping
those floor toms like there's no tomorrow sure does appeal to me. I could pretty
much plow through all twelve tracks saying the same thing - Brilliant; great
sappy lyrics; love the drumming; the guitars are making me weep; man, throwing
some piano in there was genius - You know, the typical review thing to do, but
oh wait. I do need to emphasize how rockin' this bad boy is. No honestly, if
this was made of chocolate I'd have fuckin' eaten it by now because this is
a band who know how to play dirty power pop and take it from ten to eleven effortlessly.
I do wonder where these kinda guys have been all these years and I'm not creeped
out at all by the lyrics on 'Shampoo' nor am I bothered that it's just me in
the house waving a lighter in the air on 'Make My Own Rules' before it breaks
out. Where the hell can I buy myself a pair of those 'Nasty Boots'? 2015 has
been such a great year for albums and it's been pretty relentless when someone
across the Atlantic shoves another must hear record under your nose and after
a few bars you know it's the real deal and quickly it takes hold of your stereo
and won't remove itself for weeks let alone days and when it's my job to listen
to other bands I think it's pretty selfish of one band to make such a good record
that it doesn't let others have a look in. Now do what you're told. When you
hear the beep flip the fucking record - you just have to because resistance
is futile. Remember the name - Barreracudas! They make near perfect dirty power
pop rock and roll! (Dom Daley)
BLURT (US) Sep 2015 he Barreracudas, out of Atlanta, make scrappy, goofy, sarcastic garage rock, that’s as hard to resist as cold beer in a can. Big Clash-ing guitar riffs, giddy Ramones-ish speed, silly takes on relationships gone bad, it’s a mishmash of everything you love about rough-housing rock and roll. The band shares members with Gentleman Jesse and His Men, and it is similarly back-to-basics in its approach, though lots funnier. The stand-out is last year’s single, “Promises” with its sing-along-worthy chorus of “I make promises, promises, that I just can’t keep,” but the rest is nearly as raunchily fun. Here are the boys dodging rebound sex (“Backup Plan”), borrowing the scent of a girlfriends’ hair products (“Shampoo”), dressing down (“Nasty Boots”) and critiquing a lady’s choice of drinks (“Diet Coke”), all to a razory exuberance of guitars. In this type of band, the drummer better be good, and damn, he is, setting a rackety, no-frills pace. The guitarist isn’t bad either, whether screaming out Cheap Trick riffs (“Cut Me Loose”) or conjuring a pensive Thin Lizzy (“Make My Own Rules”). But really, any time you spend trying to analyze what makes Can Do Easy work is time you could have spent getting loaded, losing at love and spazzing around the room to the Barreracudas. (JK)
Ratboy 69 (UK) Sep 2015 Oops Baby Records from Brooklyn, New York, recently released “Can Do Easy”, the sophomore effort and long-awaited follow up LP to The Barreracudas critically acclaimed debut LP "Nocturnal Missions" (2011) Atlanta's quintet which includes members hailing from Gentleman Jesse and His Men, Beat, Beat Beat and The Hiss, delivers a fantastic old school super hooky power pop blend , that brings to mind all the great seventies poppers like Cheap Trick, the Shoes, the Raspberries, the Dwight Twilley band and also the dirty glamers like Sweet or Slade. The 12 tracks on this record clock under 31 minutes but all the songs here are catchy as hell and they prove to be a lesson in songwriting that should benefit to all of the glampoppers wanna-bes around the world who cannot write half a good song! The record features a revamped version of last year’s “Promises” single, which got much airplay through the fine folks at WFMU – rising to #1 on the WFMU charts - and beyond. The guitars on this record have just the right crunch and the loud and punky production totally fits these perfect power pop songs! “Can Do Easy” is the most fun album of the year, from the foot-stomping opener of “The Jerk” to the humorous howl of “Shampoo” to the heartbreaking melodies of “Dreaming”… these are soon to be classic rock ‘n’ roll songs! "Good job on that one, jerk!"
fasterandlouderblog.blogspot.com (USA) Nov 2014 Hey! Remember Barreracudas?! Their debut LP, Nocturnal Missions, made my year-end top ten list back in 2011. Preceding great albums from the likes of The Cry!, Warm Soda, and Wyldlife, it ushered in a really fertile time for glam-inflected powerpop. It's been three years already since I first reviewed Barreracudas - and perhaps you were thinking, "Whatever happened to those guys? They were great!" Well, with band members now scattered all across the country, it's hard to get a lot done. But Barreracudas are still a band, and their long-awaited second album is nearing completion. To tide us over until then, they've given us a brand-new single. And oh my god, it's soooooooooooo good! 99.9 percent of all bands on earth will hear "Promises" and be super jealous that they didn't write this song. It's total bubblegum with a hint of new wave pop - think Ohio Express meets The Cars. And that hook is impossibly good! Seriously, you can just forget about getting this song out of your head! Don't even bother trying! One of these days, I'm going to call in sick so I can just dance around my basement like a maniac all day with this track on repeat. If there's any justice in this world, the line "I've got a pocket full of quarters now/And I'm your Donkey Kong" will become a cultural catchphrase on a mass level. With "Promises" being so bubbly and infectious, you might not be super motivated to flip this record over. But you'll be rewarded if you do. "Young and Dumb" channels late '70s Ramones by way of '60s girl groups - and again we see that Barreracudas have incorporated a lot of new ideas into their playbook since we last heard from them. I'm figuring the new album will be a little different from the last one - but no doubt equally good. Pick up a copy of "Promises" from Oops Baby Records! (Josh Rutlegde)
OX
#124 January 2016 See Scan
MOLOKO PLUS January 2016 Quo vadis CHEAP TRICK-Worship anno 2015? Wie lange müssen wir diese Mackertypen mit den Frisuren von Skinheadmädchen noch ertragen, die den großen Wurf in Sachen glammy Powerpop mittels KISS-Devotionalien aus Fernost, Schlimm Fit-Jeans und Retorten-Brustbeintattoos anvisieren? Ich meine, irgendwann muss doch mal Schluss sein mit diesen bestenfalls mittelmäßigen Coming-of-age-Alben, zu dem es die BITERS auf ihrer letzten Platte haben kommen lassen und wie es ihre Epigonen scharenweise noch viel schlechter machen. Das ist bestenfalls medioker, eigentlich jedoch grauenhaft einfältiges, konservatives, anbiederndes Mucker-Gewichse aus der Rockwerkstatt der Norman Ritter-Gesamtschule für Hängengebliebene. Wie frisch, arglos und programmatisch sich selbst auf den Arm nehmend hingegen „Can Do Easy“ klingt, als eine der wohl letzten, aber stark vernehmlichen Regungen aus der Douchemaster-Erbmasse, der großartigen BARRERACUDAS, der einzigen Rock’n’Roll-Instanz, die den Big Beat-Powerpop der 70er Jahre ohne Reibungsverlust ins 21. Jahrhundert transponiert hat. Humor zumindest hat im Metier der Gitarrenmusik allgemein und in diesem Genre insbesondere wirklich selten ohne das weiterführende Prädikat „Novelty“ funktioniert; gelacht haben immer die anderen. Daher ist es bemerkenswert, dass die BA-BA-BARRERACUDAS dank ironischer (nicht: klamaukiger) Brechung endlich die fulminante Rückkehr der Break up-Powerballade einläuten. Tatsächlich zeugt ihre Goofball Powerpop-Offensive von einer Durchdringung des Genres, wie man sie nur selten hört, mit einer Menge Licks und Breaks, die dem Moment der Anschmachtung dieses einen besonderen Mädchens abgerungen scheinen. In diesem Rahmen sind sich THE BARRERACUDAS offensichtlich all der Stolperfallen bewusst, auf die man auf dieser Spielwiese des Rock’n’Roll unvermeidlich trifft, all der Peinlichkeiten und falschen Beifallsbekundungen, und punkten mit einem aufrichtigen, einzig am Song interessierten und nicht zuletzt inspiriertem Pop-Songwriting, das gelegentlich ins Klischeebehaftete ausschlägt, aber – und das macht den Unterschied! - keiner starr vorgefertigten Schablone entstammt. Will meinen: ihr Sound ist sich seiner Tradition bewusst, weiß dabei, seine Floskeln zu gebrauchen wie auch aufs Korn zu nehmen und ist trotz allem nie alarmierend nah an seiner eigenen Parodie. Sie bedienen sich eines geradezu postmodernem Ironie-Begriffs, was wiederum heißt: sie verbraten die Klischees (darüber, seinen eigenen Weg zu gehen, über die Verflossenene hinweg zu kommen, von der Getränkewahl des Rendezvous’ einen Strich durch die weitere Abendplanung gemacht zu bekommen, etc. pp.), die sie besingen, mit einer derart uneindeutig (un-)ironischen Attitüde, dass man nicht umhin kommt, das getrost (und ausnahmslos) geil finden. Wem all das Gelaber hier jetzt bereits (read: spätestens) zu viel sein sollte, soll in Erinnerung gerufen werden: das ist eine der besten Neo-Powerpop-Platten seit THE CRY, Gentleman Jesses „Leaving Atlanta“, IMPO & THE TENTS oder WARM SODA! Wer hier nicht endgültig hellhörig geworden ist, entsorgt seinen Musikgeschmack bittesehr in der Altkleidersammlung. BARRERACUDAS, Atlantas Antwort auf Dwight Twilley und überkoffeinierte Limonaden, spielen sich auf „Can Do Easy“ mit THE JAGS-Gedächtnis-Riff-a-rama durch zwölf Hipshake-Granaten in unter dreißig Minuten, überzeugen dabei mit elaborierten, jedoch nicht überkomplizierten Arrangements und einer Produktion, die in den jeweils passenden Momenten den entsprechen Crunch oder passenden Pomp aufträgt. HECTOR’S PETS, COZY oder GAMES können dagegen einpacken. Die Party-Anthems, deren Texte so klingen wie Einträge aus dem Tagebuch eines codeinsüchtigen Siebzehnjährigen und deren Sound „Jesus Of Cool“-Nick Lowe mit „Best Of“-T-REX, sowie Mixtapes der SHOES und RASPBERRIES mischt, summieren sich zu einem goofy Bubbleglam/Powerpop-Rabatz der Extraklasse. Einziger Haken an der Sachen: ein Teil der Songs hat es bereits auf andere Veröffentlichungen geschafft. Sei es „Diet Coke“ von der „Dog Food“-Single auf Bachelor (2011), „Nasty Boots“ von der „7th Time Around“ 7“ auf Windian (2012) und „Promises“ von der erst im letzten Jahr erschienenen, ebenso benannten Single auf Oops Baby, welche auch für dieses Album die US-Pressung angeleiert haben. Aber egal, immerhin wurden die Songs neu eingespielt und wer angesichts der Sloppiness von bspw. ihrer ersten Single die Nase gerümpft hat und dann bei der „Nocturnal Missions“-LP den letzten Schuss nicht gehört haben sollte, ist gut beraten, dieser Platte eine erneute Chance zu geben, denn sie dürfte eine der Powerpop-LPs des Jahres sein, greift sie doch nicht zuletzt ständig Episoden aus einer vermeintlich gemeinsamen Vergangenheit auf, schwelgt dabei jedoch nie in Nostalgie. Wer dann immer noch kritisch bleibt, lässt sich von den Worten von Nikki Carwash von PERSONAL & THE PIZZAS überzeugen, der die Auslaufrillen von jeweils der A- und B-Seite anmoderiert, zunächst mit einem bekräftigendem „I like that one, you did a good job on that“, auf der Flip dann mit einem fast schon imperativen „when you hear the beep, flip the friggin’ record!“ Ein weiterer und letzter Beleg dafür, dass nie zu wenig Metaebenen betreten werden können, um die eigenen Schrullen zu legitimieren und Rock’n’Roll mit der einen oder anderen Flause im Kopf besser funktioniert als mit Attitude-Overkill. ( 9/10 MATTi)
more soon
KIDS AND HEROS January 2016 Americtí Barreraducas debutovali pred pár lety skvele prijatým albem, které, když jsem zaregistroval poprvé, napadlo me okamžite: „To se nekdo prepsal u jména Baracudas, ne?“ Nicméne na základe superlativních ohlasu jsem si uvedomil, že tohle není omyl v zápisu, a co víc, že tahle kapela má svuj vlastní potenciál, minimálne srovnatelný se svými skoro jmenovci. Práve ten dokazují o pár let pozdeji svým druhým albem, které se mi práve tocí již po nekolikáté za sebou na gramofonu, a já si ho zkrátka a dobre užívám. Barreracudas jsou navýsost soucasní, ale zároven v sobe mají vše dobré ze sedmdesátých let. Je to v šejrku smíchaný koktejl z punku, glamu a power popu v jeden navýsost chutný a návykový koktejl. Nekde jsem cetl, že zní jako srážka Heartbreakers Toma Pettyho s Heartbreakers Johnny Thunderse, a to je naprosto akurátní prímer. Mají v sobe ducha amerického rocku, potažmo power popu s nemenší dávkou signifikantních rocknrollových rifu a kvílících kytar a s touto výzbrojí do drážek prenášejí pretlak težko odolatelné hudební energie, mající schopnost roztancit i smeták v koute kuchyne. Od úvodní ramonesovsky chytlavé Jerk až po záver, jenž obstarává písen Dreamin‘, je to dvanácti skladbová smršt, kde kdybych chtel vypichovat hity, mohl bych klidne vypsat libovolné názvy ze sestavy písní a nemohu udelat chybu. Pokud by deska Can Do Easy spatrila svetlo sveta v casech, kdy vkus a popularitu neurcovaly reality shows sloužící pár kšeftarum k prodeji prefabrikované nudy, patrne by mela prinejmenším našlápnuto stát se hitem a dle mého skromného názoru by se jím i stala. Jsme ale v roce 2015, opravdový rocknroll už dávno nemá v médiích (tím pádem ani k jakémukoliv vetšímu presahu) šanci a to co by v roce 78 vyhrávalo z rádií, dnes slouží jako libustka pro pár vyvolených v podzemne hudebním mikrosvete. V mém svete je Can Do Easy jednou z top desek roku 2015.