These days, the world is full of misguided youngsters who love the 1970s for all the wrong reasons (regrettable clothing, bad television shows, cut-rate animated cartoons), but
the Cuts are one band of twenty-somethings who clearly understand what was right about that benighted decade -- rock & roll. Listening to
the Cuts' third album,
From Here on Out, one hears flashes of the power pop genius of
Big Star and
the Scruffs, the glam rock swagger of
Slade and
Sweet, the hard rock punch of
Cheap Trick and
Mott the Hoople, a handful of forgotten soft rock visionaries produced by
Curt Boettcher, and the proto-punk speed jive of early
Blondie and
the Mumps all bubbling in their gumbo of guitar, drums, and keyboards. This might suggest that
the Cuts are more than a bit derivative, but
From Here on Out doesn't sound that way -- it sounds like the work of five guys with great taste and strong record collections who've fashioned their obsessions into a sound that's their own, and best of all they have the energy and the chops to match their role models.
Ben Brown and
Andy Jordan's guitars ring out like raunchy church bells,
Garrett Goddard and
Carlos Palacios are a powerful and imaginative rhythm section,
Dan Aa's keys add the right dash of color to the proceedings, and
Jordan and
Aa's vocals peal like scrappy schoolboys ready to shout the power of rock & roll to the world. And whether these guys are rocking hard on "Out Here in Space" and "Stop Asking" or letting their softer side show on "Next to Nothing" and "One Last Hurrah," they sound inspired, tuneful, and passionate on every tune.
From Here on Out is a great album from a handful of music fans who have learned their lessons exceptionally well; if everyone understood the 1970s as well as these guys, the leisure suit might have been wiped from the collective consciousness by now.