This L.A. foursome are great high-force power-pop/garage rockers with songs so catchy, they seem to echo from bygone fertile eras. Perhaps they do, since they're penned and sung by Pat DiPuccio, known for 30 years as Pooch, co-founder of the late Flipside fanzine. Our Pooch-y writes with the standards of someone who has inhaled this stuff for decades, but his band hits like 20-somethings that mag fervently covered. One detects a dose of 1978-1987 Saints in the soul horns of "Set Me on Fire" (more next time!), and like the Condors' debut Tales of Drunkenness and Cruelty EP (named after a Kinks lyric from "Sunny Afternoon"), the '65 Byrds/'77 Flamin' Groovies ringing guitars of "Kiss That Girl Away" and Nuggets stylings of "Don't Want a Girl Who's Been with Jack" exhibit range. All good, given Pooch's thickened pipes, canny Jam-to-Joe Jackson hooks, entertaining lyrics, and the group's loose, ballsy playing.
© Jack Rabid /TiVo