The Satelliters-Sexplosive! (Dionysus Records)
Bowing
down at the throne of classic garage psych, the Satelliters have barfed up an
enduring platter of the genre’s newest wave (the Embrooks, The
Greenhornes). Released on California’s
wonderful Dionysus Records, this is the sound of teens in the garage with too
much time and too much volume.
The boys come out firing on all
cylinders with “When I Arrive”, a snotty teen punker that if you don’t like, go
back to reading your Rolling Stone and get the Hell out of my face. This is frenetic energy of young men
discovering the works of the early Rolling Stones and The Who, all wild
pounding, ride cymbal, organ, and snarl.
Then Satelliters give us ample evidence that they have good taste in
cheese, with their Bo Diddleyish rendition of the relatively obscure Monkeys
gem, “Circle Sky”. An immediate
advantage these guys have over their garage heroes of the sixties is the tight
raging power of drummer Ace, who almost rivals the Embrooks Ellen for pure
controlled madness. Another treat that
shows the boys have it together is “Minutes, Hours, and Days”, which to my ears
is a playful nick off the great Velvet’s outtake, “Countess from Hong Cong”. Several of the group’s original compositions
have the eerie Aeolian feel of the Outsiders moody works, which gives this disc
a timeless feel of import.
Just listening to this platter,
it seems that these guys are for real.
The sound of this stuff is LIVE.
You even can hear the glorious sounds of pounding bass intros vibrating
the snare drum. If your sick of a bunch
of pretty boys being pretentious and want the sound of no screwing around, Sexplosive!
will be a welcome addition to your playlist.
(To find out more about the
Satelliters, go to www.thesatelliters.de)
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Their debut LP, Is This It, is in the can and waiting to be released. Again Europeans will get the first taste of the album on August 28, while Americans will have to wait until September 25 for the disc. For now all we have to go by is the three cuts on The Modern Age and two tracks on an import single (which I couldn't make myself spring for at 5$ per song and the fact that they will probably be on the album). Popscene will now take a deeper look at the recordings to try to see if the hype is justified.
The thing that immediately jumps out as The Modern Age begins to play is the prominence of the band's influences. This band has a definite New York, New England sound. Vocalist Julian Casablancas is a product of the Lou Reed-Jonathan Richman school, and the first track "The Modern Age" sounds like a track off The Modern Lovers. A Moe Tucker stomp accompanies nice Velvety strumming, then shifts into a great breezy hook that is only their own. "Last Night" is an anthemic Motown basher that sounds like it could be 1979 all over again, without the tinny, plastic sound. The last cut, "Barely Legal", is a delightfully trashy rocker that incorporates the chiming sound of mid-period Sonic Youth guitars.
Overall, this record is loud, fun, and exciting. Did it "change my life", as the NME article said this band would? Not yet. The production was great for an introductory EP, sloppy and distorted in the classic Nuggets style, but I hope it gets a little more fleshed out on the upcoming album. And the band is really still a product of its influences (very GOOD influences, mind you). But the important thing to consider is that they're pretty damn close to getting it right. Ladies and gentleman, I have heard what COULD be the next big thing. Remember, rock and roll is 50, and this could be its last shot.
visit The Strokes' webpage to get tour dates, news, and to buy CD's at www.thestrokes.com
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