Some Days

Wrecked rock ‘n’ roll a la Sonny Vincent or Alex Chilton when he was into flies and sherbert from Tony Matarazzo, associate and member of Grand Elegance, FM Bats, Jail Weddings a while back and more. They have that total New York City darkside vibe, where fucked-up-but-lovin’-it dudes would swap in and out of each other’s bands and end up half-laughing in the studio, cutting stuff like “Summertime Blues” (Chilton’s hiccup-y version). I’m reminded of that part in the Lester Bangs essay where Richard Hell says a real emotion dies every time you laugh, and they finish the interview with a lot of desperate ha-ha-ha-ha. (Also spiritually applicable: Flipper’s “Ha Ha Ha.”) “Happy” is pretty fuckin’ brutal; that’s actually kind of a Some Days specialty here, just spillin’ out tales of hell and woe over some simple Thunders-style rock ‘n’ riffs played casual and cheerful. Unexpected and great (and faithful!) dub cover of Vivien Goldman’s “Launderette” and then way-bummed-out Jeffrey Lee/Nick Cave kinda feel on closer, “Some Days’ Nightmares,” which of course are “coming true.” Live, they got some fun few-chord smashers like “Wig Slap,” but this EP starts at “whoa” and slithers into “Good Lord, I am fucked.” (“Headspinner Blues”) Powerful vibe matched perfectly by the musicians, who sound like they all had a cigarette dangling from the mouth during each and every song, but not something for sweet little kids or the people these songs are about, who for all I know are already dead.