JULY 2009 ONLINE EDITORIALS
Bad Weather California - Young Punks
By Matthew Martin
At just 32 minutes, this eleven-track album is spectacular. The first track, “New Religion,” has a spaghetti-western feel reminiscent of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, combined with a hint of reggae placed alongside a slue of backup singers. The next track works the F-word nicely into the chorus. It pokes fun at America while pointing out some of this nation’s irony. The entire album has a bit of reverb that reminds me of The Black Lips album Good, Bad, Not Evil. Most of the album has a gloomy, if not somber, feel, with redneck lyrics about shooting off a handgun in remorse.
Another standout song is “1992,” which describes being in a garage band influenced by Kurt Cobain, with “we were young, we got high, and we were free.” Of course, for a seemingly country album there has to be a sad country song. It’s titled “Two Ways,” and it’s great for having a cold one and feeling blue. And after a sad song there is another fun song about getting high and drunk and fucked. The last song, appropriately named “Needle & the Spoon,” is full of lament the singer felt after too many days spent using heroin, left thinking about what he needs to do to keep his wife and child. The alt-western feel mixes well with the mid 90’s sound, making for a fluid album overall.