Parasites
Retro Pop Remasters
Go Kart Records
This cool looking record comes from good old Go Kart Records, home of those punk, power-punk, and punk-pop acts that infuse college radio. The Parasites have hung on long enough to get this Greatest Hits remaster with 14 songs, all in nearly the exact same tempo. Sure, they can change key occasionally, but it’s not their strong point either. The press material compares them to Green Day and The Ramones, but The Parasites don’t exceed these sources, and rarely come up to them. They’re about as clever as the hundreds of other pop punkers out there, even to the point of the mandatory redo of The Ramones “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.” They sing “Ronnie is a Psycho,” and you can hum it right through if you hear about 60 seconds of it.
I’m digging through the disc, looking for a hit or a near hit. “Young and Stupid” might be close, I like the lyrics but the one beat drum track and that wall of fuzz guitar sounds like too many other cuts and too many other groups. “Something To Hold Onto” has better drumming but after running through this disc, I just can’t spot anything to stick in my mind. The graphics are cool, but that’s as far as this band goes.
Go Kart Records: http://www.gokartrecords.com
