Music Reviews

“winterbrief”

Winterbrief

Complaints From The Beauty Class

Hub City

Casiocore kicks ass, and Winterbrief wears big stompy boots. The duo of Jan and Julian mix deliciously forward vocals with a Devo-esque mix of electronic and analog sounds. Though Winterbrief is more pop than punk, the Devo parallel works well, as their songs have the same sort of pogo-like-a-methed-up-kangaroo intensity, causing involuntary twitches and an unconquerable desire to get up and jiggle. Take “I Want To Be Sexy,” which uses a burbly beat, multiple-language lyrics, and spoken word commentary to come up with something like Bowie’s “Fashion,” Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy,” and the Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl.” “Chick Flick” uses a fuzzy guitar line and a tight-as-spandex riff to talk about pretending to be on heroin.

For all their wonderfully catchy pop, Winterbrief pulls no punches. The band has obvious geek chic about it, but it rocks as hard as the best of them.

Hub City Records, P.O. Box 1223, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1223


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