Bush Tetras : "They Live in My Head"

 This band has been around since 1979, but this is only their third album. They make noise inflected proto-punk that finds the songs front and center in a very rock n roll manner. It's the time of year when I start hunting down albums from genres that might have been a little neglected over the course of the year and it seems punk falls into that category this year. The fact I go looking for new punk bands I that flew under my radar and the first album I find worth reviewing is from a band that formed in 1979 does not bode well for the current state of punk. "Things I  Put Together' sounds like it was written as they were just piddling around the house. Punk had much more in common with Blondie and the Talking Heads when they started playing and that can be felt here. 

Their age begins to show in the lyrics of "2020 Vision" which struggles have relevance. You can hear them getting older as they clang out the chords to "I Am Not a Member". You know old people need hobbies, I think they were onto something better on the first song, and things have fallen apart like their afternoon trip to Walmart now that we are deeper in the album. "Walking Out the Door" has more clamor and clanging to the angular dissonance. This is preferred to the previous song. "So Strange' is driven by a riff that sounds like a punk band covering the Rolling Stones' disco years. "Ghosts of People" is more deliberate and moody, it works better for what they do .

There is a strum of acoustic guitar on "They Live in My Head" as it ambles along. It is not as compelling as the previous song. In fact it's hard to make it through the verses though the chorus has a little more gas. The guitar riff to "Another Room" has a similar jangle to PJ Harvey, who might perhaps have been influenced by these guys, after all I think she would have her finger on the pulse of the underground scene in New York. The last song meanders around with similar energy. I will give this album an 8, the more sonic moments are strong and balance out the times when they are lost in music today.