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| From | Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com> |
| Subject | this week's Gabe Fuentes alert: Rumblers |
| Date | Fri, 06 Jun 2003 03:40:04 -0400 |
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My review of yet another fine new pop-punk band from the Bay Area (see the
Methadones), the Rumblers, and their quite good new album HOLD ON TIGHT:
"Like a more credible and less goofy version of some of the commercial
mall-punk bands, the Rumblers are a tough, driving band of true punk
rockers that nonetheless keeps a sweetly poppy edge to their sound.
(Imagine early Social Distortion -- leader Donny Switchblade has more than
a little Mike Ness in his gravelly vocals -- toying with the Ramones'
bubblegum tendencies and you're most of the way there.) Melodic yet
powerful, songs like "Sinning (Feels So Right)" and "If the Drinking Don't
Kill Me" meld singalong choruses to walloping riffs, and the refreshing
lack of both nu-metal whining and pop-punk juvenility makes even songs with
names like "Every Fuckin' Night" and the jailbait anthem "Hell To Pay"
(both of them under-two-minute blasts of pure, unrefined ramalama) seem
smart, fresh and funny. Dan Lumley and Danny Vapid of Screeching Weasel
both guest, and Switchblade borrows his rhythm section from the current
lineup of the Queers; obviously the Rumblers have a solid place in the Bay
Area pop-punk scene, but Donny Switchblade has enough personality to make
them their own band."
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