Scenes and their significance are often, I guess, romanticised.
In 1991, Nirvana released “Nevermind” and the received wisdom was as soon as they did, kids the world over became disillusioned grungers, Generation X, a mass of people demanding revolution.
I am well qualified to speak for “the kids” of that generation, because when that record was released, I was exactly a week from my 16th birthday. The fact it came out didn’t even register in truth, because the week before, September 17th 1991, Geffen, who released “Nevermind,” had stuck out Guns N Roses “Use Your Illusion” records. And I’d have been too busy playing the shit out of them to care less about anything else.
It’s the same for punk, I suppose. I wasn’t there, I don’t know, but I do know that the famous picture of the rubbish on the streets of London that is often used to illustrate the “discontent” of the youth was taken in 1979. After the initial explosion, surely?
But back to GnR, them and Skid Row were my first real exposure to punk rock. Not the sound maybe, but the spirit, the raw danger (and Skid Row played “Psychotherapy” in their set at the first gig I ever saw in November 1991), that owed much to the previous generation.
And that spirit, that fire, still lives on. It lives on in Small Town Tigers, and if the “shock and awe” has gone – good grief if the sight of girls in Leather playing guitars frightens you, then you need to take a look at your life choices – then the Italian mob look like they’d still bring a gun to a knifefight if it meant they could win.
“Five Things” – its an eight tracker, go figure – is their debut salvo. It was recorded with MV fave Stiv Cantarelli using vintage equipment. The results are simple. They sound authentic, scrappy and raw as all hell. In short, then, exactly like they should.
The opener “Just Friends” suckers you in with its sweet harmonies, Valli, the singer and bassist, though delivers it like you’d best be just friends if she decides it. Likewise on “Girl” she explains, “your voice is boring me to death….”, and it sounds like she means it.
The sound is 70s orientated, and you can imagine Suzi Quatro looking on with pride, not necessarily because they sound like her (in honesty they sound like The Ramones jamming on garage rock songs while Joan Jett is watchin’ blokes by the record machine) but Suzi surely is the Grandmother of this type of thing, and if this trio were on Devil Gate Drive, then just get out of their way.
“Runaway Girl” is perhaps the best thing here, if for no other reason it barely harnesses its own energy, and sounds gloriously out of control, “Darling Please!” is surf rock played by punks. No doubt its got a fancy term, but Valli doesn’t scare, she’s spitting her vocals out and whacking her bass, and Monty is cheerily dishing out low-slung riffing, while Castel, the last to join, finds some primal drum groove.
“I Want It Now” sounds like they do, and if handclaps usually ensure happiness in power pop, then here, they seem to be ready to smash the doors down. “The Bitch” has a bit of The Sonics about it, but there’s a nihilism about its delivery. There’s no light at the end of this tunnel, while the title track, which wraps things up, dials things up to 11, the speed, the threat levels, the desire. It’s all here.
Debut albums are, of course, funny things, and you never quite know what the future holds. Here though, I’ll make a prediction. At no point in their career will Smalltown Tigers ever tone it down. You sense that this comes from somewhere deep. The punk spirit? It’s more than present here, its ingrained. This is less a first foray, then a statement of intent.
And if you don’t like it, whatever, never mind.
Rating 9/10
