Reagan National Crash Diet
Sucktastic! 7”
RoosterCow
I must admit that I was taken aback by the four songs on this 7”, as they do not sound like the Reagan Nation Crash Diet (RNCD) I had experienced before. To be honest, though, I had heard only one song of theirs on a split 7” that I got a few months back. The RNCD I find here is basing its roots in rock & roll, and adding a butt load of sassiness and spunk, resulting in some pretty snotty and aggressive songs.
“F.U.” is a sad little rocker that sounds like it came straight from the 1950s, but first stopped to pick up a young Kim Gordon for vocal duties. The chorus features an interesting set of backing singers that sound almost like a crew of dogs barking.
“Pretender” finds the band rockin’ out in a very garage rock manner, pounding out some toe tappin’, booty shakin’, hand clappin’ tunes fit for consumption by just about anyone. I especially like the “oooh oooh” at the end of the song. In all seriousness, this one is a forward-facing rocker, similar to slowed down Chrome Cranks and Jon Spencer Blue Explosion.
“16” is a garage rock masterpiece (complete with extra “eeee’s” at the end of “you’re sixteen”) with raunchy guitars playing a simple riff that rocks along on its own strength. The drums are tribal and large, playing a voracious 1,2 beat, thus supplying an ample backbone for this song – surely an excuse for the band to cut loose and pound on their instruments.
This is a fun double 7”, but it’s not what I expected. I thought these guys play angular math rock stuff, and there’s none of that here. It doesn’t really matter, as the songs here are pretty solid. The ability to rock in varying sub-genres of punk is a testament to the quality of a rock band like RNCD. Awesome!
RoosterCow Records: http://www.roostercow.com/
