Are You Receiving Me? – NYC Pop Punk (Impulse, Unlovables, Shy Guys)

(Disclaimer: In catching up on reviews, and making excessive use of prepositions, we have two things to explain: 1) some of the records are “recent” only in the geological sense and 2) in the interest of full disclosure we have to recognize that many people in the following bands have contributed to Go Metric or are friends with people have.)

The Unlovables
Heartsickle CD
Whoa Oh

I’ve scrapped many versions of this review. They all started out with good intentions—talk of new wave hooks and heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics—but they always wound up sounding like I was reviewing an episode of Dawson’s Creek, which was, by any measure, an awful TV show. And the Unlovables are everything but awful, especially on Heartsickle. I appreciate their punk side more because it sounds like they’re varying the tempos more. Likewise for the variety in the backing vocals (the harmonies on “Disaster” sound like Velocity Girl, just for one example). There are countless great moments--the first seven songs fly by and flow together perfectly--my favorite being the pre-chorus on “Samantha.” I’d listen to the radio every day if they’d play records like this.

The Impulse
“Arm the Girls” b/w “Run and Hide” 7”
Deranged

Second single from Dirtbike Adam’s new band. These songs are easy to like at face value—guitar pop with hooks on par with the Jam or Buzzcocks and, on the flipside, backing vocals reminiscent of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” But I think Lisa Marr (cub/Buck/Lisa Marr Experience) might be a better comparison. She’s always been a master at writing cheery sounding songs about inner turmoil. First up from the Impulse, “Arm the Girls”: “I followed her and we had alcohol/I spent the night in her room/I’ve got no other way.” Has anyone ever written a more detached, clinical retelling of a night of romance? And how about the self-loathing in “Run and Hide”: “I hate myself and the way that everything goes fair (?)/At least I know what haunts me even if nobody cares.” We care, Impulse, and we love this single. We just hope you leave the night light on.

Short Attention
Clever, Maddening, and Annoying 7”
Cold Feet

All songs 25 seconds or less. Most of them all-hook, no filler. Sounds like a purified Guided By Voices, right? So why the "Maddening and Annoying" portion of the title? Because 29 short songs split up among five different singers is a pain in the ass to keep up with, regardless of how catchy those snippets are. But we’re all about solutions at Go Metric. Here's our suggestion: simply reprogram your playback device so that, for example, all of the Dirtbike Dan songs run together. Then all of Chelsea’s songs, etc. I think it would go something like this:

Chadd Derkins: 3, 7, 10, 18, 25, 27
Dirtbike Dan: 6, 12, 21, 24
Grath Steinway: 1, 4, 8, 20, 23, 29
Mikey Erg: 5, 11, 22, 28
Chelsea: 2, 9, 12, 17, 26
(Grath & Chelsea: 14, 19)

*Couldn’t figure out 15
**Sounds like everyone’s singing on 16
***Gotta love the 14-second cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray” (20)
****Dan’s songs made me wonder whether or not I own any Loverboy records

Shy Guys
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do CD
Self-released

There was nothing reserved about the late Shy Guys, no signs of holding back. They pushed their limits when it came to lyrics, arrangements, and vocals. Theirs is the sound of an unresolved conflict between being “just” a goofy pop punk band and the desire to be taken seriously. I like the lyrics (tipping their collective cap toward Salinger and Shakespeare) and admire their arrangements (every band should have a song that uses every idea in the drawer and goes on a bit too long like “Cloudy Vertigo”). The vocals are the “make it or break it” element here. I’m not concerned with whether or not they were on key, but I do wish they’d dipped their ladles in the “whoa oh” well less often. All of which probably rings of “mixed review” to you, the discerning reader. And it is. But take the songs, add in the sweet but melancholy liner notes and you have a nice keepsake.

– Mike Faloon