The Biters, The Biters EP
I do not believe in ghosts resurrection or anything of the sort, but damn if I didn't think The Exploding Hearts, one of my favorite bands of all time, had crawled out from the grave the first time I listened to The Biters. Like the Hearts, the Atlanta-based foursome looks like they belong in the late 70's East Village (think pretty faces, long straight hair, and lots of leather and denim). They even created their own rock and roll gang with their buddies, The Booze, known as the Hate City Rockers. And, like the Hearts, they managed to reach that seemingly impossible line of power pop-punk perfection.
For those that don't know, power pop is a genre that walks the line between a 1970s rock and roll sound and simple pop music. Good examples are Nick Lowe, Cheap Trick, and Slade. We are NOT talking about Blink 182, New Found Glory, or any of that other rubbish I simply call "Mall Pop" (or, perhaps even more often, designating it as "shit.") Without trying to subcategorize the endless genres in Rock, I'd like to move on.
"Hang Around," the first track on the self-titled EP, is friendly enough to chew bubblegum to, but stompy enough to pound a pint glass on a sawdust-covered bar. Lead singer and guitarist, who simply goes by Tuk, beautifully nasals out, "We're gonna waste this town/Burn it to the ground/We could get out/Maybe we'll just hang around/Hang around!/And when the money gets tight/I'm selling on the side/I could get high/Baby I can hang around!" Words that any small-town high schooler, or your run of the mill junkie, can relate to. The gang vocals contributed by back up guitarist Matt Gabs and bassist Travis (the latter is Tuk's brother) make it irresistible to sing along to.
"So Cheap So Deadly" has a grittier feel, although the slicked production is far from abandoned. The faint chirps of a piano have been added, most likely by drummer/percussionist Joey. It's a simple, sleazy song about the similarities between girls and drugs, an issue not so distant for Tuk since the dismantling of his former band, The Heart Attacks, a Hellcat signed band that broke up three years ago.
"Ain't No Dreamer" starts off with a long, drawn out guitar scratch descent, and has the same stomp that helps to unify the EP. The hamonizing is strangely angelic, as the band chants "I ain't no dreamer baby, I ain't got nothing to say/And it wouldn't be that much anyway." The bridge changes into a far-more agressive key change, followed by a perfect, dare I say epic, build up as Tuk confesses, "I keep losing everything I own/Or I break it, I can't Take It/I started talking but I lost my thoughts/I was faded...Just so faded!" What can I say? Aphasia's a bitch.
"Beat Me Baby" is probably the weakest song on the release, although I still find myself singing along everytime. Perhaps it's just a problem that the production is so...damn...slick. But structure-wise, it's perfect. It's got a real 50's bop to it, and the high pitched doo-wop backups do it well. Like every song on the EP, it's got a perfect guitar solo, and at just over two and a half minutes, the song ends without becoming irritating.
The closer, "Anymore," is one of those songs that everyone in the audience claps their hands to. It also has the near identical guitar beginning to Cheap Trick's "Surrender," (which is certainly not a bad thing!) "NO! We don't want to anymore! They all live to...SLOW! No we don't want to anymore...anymore...anymore." It's what I've been trying to tell you all for years! Who wants to hear all this slow, crummy crap coming through the airwaves now anyways? Not me. After-you guessed it- another ripping solo-there's a jungle-like drum solo (albeit, a brief one) by Joey, and the return of the "Surrender" guitar phrase.
"They say/I'll just fade away/And I won't be around/But I won't listen anymore."
Indeed you shouldn't, Tuk. This is the best EP I've heard all year. I give it 5 stars, and I cannot wait to see what's next from The Hate City Rockers.
