Skuzzies - The Skuzzies
by Adrian Huggins
published: 30 / 6 / 2011

Label:
Easy Action
Format: CD
intro
Over-polished and inconsistent, but ultimately convincing debut album from garage rock group, the Skuzzies
Upon hearing ‘Hungry As a Hound’, the first track of the Skuzzies’ self-titled album ,I had that feeling that you come across from time to time in music writing of “ Oh wow really? I’ve only heard this before about 800 times over the last ten years and since the whole garage revival thing kicked off with the likes of the Strokes.” ‘More Than This’, which follows this, however, with its clanging bass and more raucous sound filled me with a little more hope. ‘Brompton Cocktail’ filled with even more hope still again with its 70’s punk favoured chorus. I finally started to think, ‘Okay, maybe this is going to be okay and I can forgive the constant name dropping and coat tail chasing that I found when reading about the band in their press release.” ‘The Unknown Principle’ is yet again more evidence that the Skuzzies do not need to rely on any such techniques in order to gain some recognition. If the album had kicked off with ‘Dissatisfied’ I think I would have been a lot more excited and much less sceptical than I first was. With a real hard rock edge set against a reggae/dub bass line, it is a lot more fresh and sets the band apart in what is quite a bread and butter genre. My other criticism is that for a band called the Skuzzies, playing in a garage rock style and plugging their rough and ready, rock ‘n’ roll living, the album sounds little too polished. I like my skuzzieness much dirtier. Having said that, I would imagine live the band really come into their own and this is how they have gathered a strong fan base and earned a lot of praise, so I have come round to them. I would also add that the last track on the album, ‘On the Corner.’ really made me want to go out, drink and be rock’ n’ roll, which is what this is all about.
Track Listing:-
1 Hungry As A Hound2 More Than This
3 Brompton Cocktail
4 The Unknown Principle
5 Are You Sleeping?
6 Dissatisfied
7 Shotgun Romance
8 Rich Girls
9 Heartache Accelerates
10 On The Corner
Label Links:-
http://easyaction.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/EasyActionRecords
https://twitter.com/easyactionmusic
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