12345
ACCELERATE – Remake Remodel (Popboomerang)
This
is a four-song EP (three tunes really – one’s a re-mix) from a cutesy
all-girl pop-punk four-piece from Melbourne - and it’s great. Think The
Donnas with panache and less of the cliché factor, or
the Buzzcocks crossed with Sydney’s Del-emmas, and you’re close.
“Accelerate” is a spiky piece of bouncy pop, pure ‘n’
simple. Jes Cogger’s melodic vocals and the rabid energy levels win the
day and propel this bracing, bright ball of energy along. A formidable two
minutes - and tough into the bargain. Like being beaten up by your big sisters.
“Thanx for Nothing” opens with a hi-hats-and-bass echo of Craig
Leon’s “Blitzkrieg Bop” mix from the first Ramones album before
yielding to a a choppy, semi-reggae feel. Very cool. “Jellybean”
isn’t up to the same grade as the opening two tracks and ultimately feels
a little monotonous, so the re-mix doesn’t do much. But that’s still
a fair strike rate.
The comment was recently made on a NY punk mailing list (by Miss Kitty Kowalski
of NYC’s The Kowalskis, if ya must know) that women in rock and roll
are judged far more harshly than the guys. Now I dunno if that’s entirely
true, but in a male dominated field it does have some validity . That being
the case, I'll advance Remake Remodel as contenders for bigger things and
say that not many bands are doing this stuff as well, be they guys or gals.
Can't help thinking, in fact, that Remake Remodel would go down a storm in
Europe where the pop-punk torch is held so high by labels like Stardumb.
"12345 Accelerate" is in a similar vein to the last Groovie
Ghoulies album, but with more bounce.
There’s a cool film clip for “Accelerate” as part of the deal
too, shot on the band’s recent US tour, in which John Lydon evenb plays
a cameo.
This is the third
EP for the band, which was formerly known as Porcelain. Do us a favour next
time girls, and make it an album? – The
Barman
3/4