Quasi are no spring chickens . They have been around since 1993 (this is their 8th album) but while other bands would be tempted to go through the motions,they want us to know they still have a pulse.
In person they are an ex-married couple from Portland, Oregon - Sam Coomes (keys, guitars, vocals) and Janet Weiss (drums) . For this album they also call upon the services of Joanna Bolme on bass.
The seedy sexual frustration of the opening track (Repulsion) lays down a marker - listen up, we're gonna tell like it is. It is the sound of a band paring things down to basics and relishing a no frills-no fillers line. And make no mistake, this is no-nonsense rock that goes straight for the jugular and hits the target more often than not.
There are keys somewhere in the mix but this a straight ahead guitar indie-rock album with a real sense of dynamism and energy.
A large part of what gives it its urgency is the fact that the "moneyman" and "the mind machine" of straight society are rightly in their sights as the antithesis of the rock'n'roll spirit.
The steadfast resistance to playing safe and settling for an easy life and a living death lies at the heart of the key track Little White Horse, in which Combes sings, or rather snarls, the words: "Grow up settle down make payments on a home /Leave little messages on someone or another's phone".
They keep to a tight, punchy song structure throughout the 10 tracks even when, on the album's longest song - Bye Bye Blackbird - the tune morphs into a psychedelic jam.
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None of this is particularly innovative or original, of course, it simply works because they have re-worked their musical sources with such panache and enthusiasm.
Rockabilly Party is like a head on collision between country and grunge. The Jig Is Up is very Pavement-like (no surprise since Joanna and Janet also play in Stephen Markmus' backing band The Jicks) while "Everyone and Nothing At All' is a reflective Flaming Lips type ballad with a 'don't let the bastards grind you down' message.
A couple of other references I jotted down may be more subjective but I'll throw them in here for what they are worth . On Black Dogs And Bubbles , the muddy riff reminded me of The Beatles' 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and the wailing guitar sound on many of the tracks seems to summon up the spirit of the late great Johnny Thunders.
Whatever the derivations of the sound, the key point is that all are presented with a healthily subversive spirit.
Rather than being withered by age, Quasi have found a new lease of life here and when they repeat the old adage "If it's not too loud then you're not too old" , it never sounded so heartfelt.
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