From the same Greek motherland as garage bad boys Acid Baby Jesus comes BAZOOKA. Comprised of two guitarists, two drummers, sans bassist, the band has sky-high rocketing energy and insurmountable shredding capacity on their Slovenly Records debut.
The follow-up to their previous two 7 inches, one of which is titled ever so tastefully I Want to Fuck All the Girls in My School, comes the newest and first self-titled LP from these Grecian face-melters. The whole record is fierce and loud with a few tracks dribbled in there to slow things down and keep the buzz fluid. This album is as if the Black Lips’ fun punk rock antics and Jeff the Brotherhood’s head banging sludge went off to Greece and came back 9 months later with a rather ferocious lovechild. Some Virgin Mary type shit – you don’t know how it’s possible but it is!
“Zed the Mythical Goat” is the opening track and starts this baby off slow so you can adjust yourself for what’s about to come. Light guitar strumming leads you into a twilight zone but then all of a sudden heavy scum drumming comes in to tell you all about Zed. Double drumming is no shy stranger on the album and makes it seem like a stampede of elephants is after you on every track – this is absolutely no twiddly dink of a record. One of my favorite tracks is the speedy-fast rock n’ roll anthem “Summer Song.” It still has the scuzzy vocals but just enough to overpower the good ol’ charming rock ‘n’ roll chords. I believe that this may be, in fact, the summer anthem for 2013. Even if it wasn’t titled “Summer Song” it makes me want to get out of my 9-5 office chair, lean over my cubicle and yell to all my co-workers, “IT’S SUMMER FOOLS, LET’S GET THE EFF OUTTA HERE!” and run around the office like a crazy person throwing important papers in the air. I can dream, right?
“Koritsi Stin Akti” takes you to the sandy beaches of the Greek isles opening with the literal splashing of waves and lyrics all in Greek tongue. Someone pass the ouzo, man! Heavy shredding on this track and teeter-tottering loud and soft vocals to leave you wishing the party wasn’t over. “Mountain S.A.” has a real 60’s psych vibe. A dash of folk pop influence and an ear piercing splice of some vibrating guitar slang, slowly bringing you back up as the song rounds out to its original 60’s psych-folk roots.
Bazooka’s debut LP closes out with the shortest yet most powerful track “War Parade,” bringing in what sounds like some unexpected synth action. Anyway, it is the best way to close out this spiraling and vicious 13-track monstrosity. As it turns out the band recently toured the USA with Paint Fumes, but we still want to see the double guitars, double drums in real life! Hopefully again soon!
Genre/ Tags: Punk, Garage Rock, Lo-Fi
s/t LP: Tracklist:
1.) Zed the Mythical Goat
2.) Ravening Trip
3.) Bye Bye Girl
4.) Penny
5.) Summer Song
6.) Shame Take My Brain
7.) Koritsi Stin Akti
8.) Mountain S.A.
9.) Mr. George
10.) Burn that Dress
11.) Church
12.) Haunted House
13.) War Parade
Styrofoam Drone 