Straight to VHS - Rewinder

Article by Max Mercy (Via Mexican-robots.com)

People who think of Connecticut solely as a state full of country clubs and gold-lined streets have never been to New London.  And anybody who’s wondering where the spirit of punk-rock is these days can find it there.

While listening to "Rewinder," I smelled stale beer and sweat. I felt concrete under my sneakers. I saw dive bars and littered parking lots and empty strip malls. Suburbia after nightfall.

Stylistically, Straight to VHS makes use of early punk templates and can resemble pioneer groups like the Sex Pistols and the Wipers. Their production standards are relatively high for garagerock so I can understand the Jay Reatard comparisons. They’re working within the form, keeping the rough edges and apathetic attitude but it’s obvious they care how the sound comes across. They’re craftsmen.

At just over 20 minutes, the album is a sonic roller coaster ride with one song cascading into the next. The standout track that represents the whole experience is “patchwork city.” In the red vocals, sweet bass doodles, a chorus that turns the groove of the verses on its head and guitar with enough crunch to chip a tooth. The count-in alone is beautifully rock and roll.

Yup, the spirit of punk is alive. I’m not sure if it’s well but when has it ever been? One thing’s for sure: it takes equal amounts pain and love to play this kind of music.