By Keith Walsh
Picking up an electric guitar and making some noise with friends can be a liberating experience for both player and listener. The female trio of Monty, vocals and guitar, Valli, vocals and bass, and the newest member Castel, drums, put together an instantly likeable 10-track album with the band Smalltown Tigers, and their second full-length album, Crush On You. (My interview with Smalltown Tigers is at Popular Culture Beat).
From the modest seaside town of Rimini, Italy, and forging their skills on two tours with The Damned, Smalltown Tigers have taking a great leap forward with this second album. Leaning on a style of OG punk that started with U.S.-based garage bands in the 1960s, the songs on Crush On You are powerful, fun, and laden with hooks. Strong emotions are at the center here, with themes of desire, disgust and regret.
Track By Track
Some of the best punk rock stays away from political themes. The opening track “Meet Me In the City” is just an invitation, and only the dirtiest of imaginations will run wild here. The title track “Crush On You” is a straight-ahead expression of desire, one that’s, lyrically at least, straight out of the playbook of the 1950s when rock and roll split off from gospel and the blues. “In A Dream” has a catchy 90s pop punk style guitar riff – it’s super catchy and bouncy. “Teddy Bear” takes the title of a simpering Elvis Presley track, twisting it into an act of rebellion against objectification. It’s super poppy, with a chorus including chanting background vocals and an electric piano interlude) that reminds me of some of the greatest punk rock from Southern California in the late 1970s and 1980s.
“Maybe” has an extremely aggressive sound, with blazing guitars and vocal rage not unlike that of the progenitors of mainstream punk rock from Britain, Sex Pistols. “Monster” is an accusatory anthem with touches of Joan Jett in the vocal delivery and a one chord verse that makes it all that much darker, and reminiscent of metal rather than punk.
“Dressed Right And Skinny” addresses the issue of fashion in punk rock, which after all had its European origins in a clothing shop run by Vivienne Westwood. It’s a bratty anthem and a tribute to looking and feeling good. “Joey” is another one where Smalltown Tigers are channeling Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, The Damned and other British bands of that generation. “Killed Myself When I Was Young” has a Bo Diddley riff as a main theme, along with the lyrical theme of regret.
The entire album is a blast, and it’s in the style of the garage rock explosion of the 1960s for sure, though also recorded in a more pristine fashion. After a couple tours with punk icons The Damned, Smalltown Tigers went in to the studio, L’Amor Nio Non Muore in Forli to record the follow up to their debut LP Five Things. Helming the sessions was Stiv Cantarelli (producer) and Robbi Villa (engineer), both borrowed from the punk act J.D. Hangover. There’s another connection to the original Detroit garage rock tradition – Crush On You was mastered by Jim Diamond, colleague of White Stripes, Von Bondies, Dirtbombs.
(Photo by Luca Ortolani Photography. Album cover by Richard Bucchioni.)
My brand new interview with Smalltown Tigers is at Popular Culture Beat.
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SmallTown Tigers ‘Crush On You’ On Bandcamp
SmallTown Tigers ‘Five Things’ On Bandcamp
Female Punk Trio Smalltown Tigers Have A ‘Crush On You’ (VIDEO) – PunkRockBeat.com
Area Pirata Records
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