Record Label: Smog Veil
Genre: Punk
Band Link:
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I guess I don’t know my punk history as well as I thought. RCR were a late 70s proto-punk band from Ohio with a Dictators/Dead Boys sound. This new album is their first new material in 20 years, and although I never heard their older material, I’m assuming they haven’t changed much.

The new album has the distinct ’77 garage NY punk sound with tons of swagger and sneering and a Ramonesy cartoonish humor. The music is great enough to be a Coozer’s Pick, but they do seem to be banking on their past connections too much — there’s the song “Dead Boy” in homage to Stiv Bators, “I Don’t Wanna Be a Punk No More” is very Dee Dee-ish, and “Pinhead” is of course a nod to the Ramones.

But their lyrics are so tongue-in-cheek and clever that you gotta forgive them. Witness, for example, the lyrics to “Punk Daddy”: “I’ve played places you could surf on the spit / I’ve seen Dead Boys rise from the Crypt / I’ve seen Vicious fight Dogs in the pit / I’ve heard Thunder, I’ve caught Hell / I’ve kissed Sheena but I’ll never tell.” Kinda lame that they’re trying to connect with the modern punk scene by playing up their old and forgotten footnote to the ’77 scene, but you can’t help but like them regardless. And like I said, the music is great.

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