The Wee Turtles
This Land is Your Land
Pitch-A-Tent
Even if I didn’t dig on the Wee Turtles’ music (which I do), I’d have to give them props for a couple of things from their debut album. First of all, the first song on the album, “Theme Song”, gives a clue to the band name’s origin with some quotes from Groundskeeper Willie of The Simpsons about some wee turtles. That’s good stuff. Then there’s the final song title of “Playtime at Castle Greyskull,” with its He-Man reference, and – on a more practical level – the rather cool medieval artwork album cover.
Oh, yeah, the music. Wandering through the pop briar patch, the Wee Turtles get musical cockleburs from the likes of the Lemonheads, Bunnygrunt, Olivia Tremor Control, and the Apples in Stereo stuck on their sleeves. It’s burrow-in-your-head catchy, yet rather rough hewn, humorous, and garage-y at the same time. This decidedly rough production fits the Turtles like a glove.
Only one song (“Enter…The Sasquatch!”) is at all slow, while the other thirteen weave snappy riffs and quick tempos together in a fine puree. Fourteen songs in less than forty minutes? You get the picture and, fortunately, the print is a good one.
Pitch-A-Tent, P.O. Box 655, Athens, GA 30603; http://www.pitch-a-tent.com
