'Locals Only' Feature

So, initially, the title of this album seemed to me to be a bit of a contradiction. Can’t Stand Modern Music??? But you guys call yourselves a power pop band! You can’t get much more modern or current than power pop. It’s all the rave these days! Especially in this town.

Then I gave it another listen…and another, etc. Here’s what I really like about Can’t Stand Modern Music: This album is a collection of cheery, choral anthems that for me, recapture that anti-hero spirit of the late ‘70s punk scene. If The Cute Lepers lead singer, Steve E. Nix, had an English accent, I could very well be listening to Stiff Little Fingers or Sham 69. The consistent melodic guitar leads in the song “Terminal Boredom” conjures up an image of Doc Martens and the working class…totally contrary to the striped shirt wearing peglegged kids that cross my mind when I hear the phrase ‘power pop.' I love the snotty, drippy ‘ohs’ on “Prove It.” They remind me of my sexually frustrating pre-teenage days. You know, that same feeling that was captured in After School Specials and expressed so well by bands like Redd Kross and The Ramones. In fact, there are quite a few influences at work here. However, I think it has to be their effective use of back-up vocals that gives each one of their songs a different vibe. In the style file, I’d stick these guys right after glam, but before new wave.

By the time this album was on round four, not only did I get it, I was reminded that I “Can’t Stand Modern Music” either! The Cute Lepers definitely live up to the power pop tag, but without the commercial sound of so many modern power pop bands.

Catch them at El Corazon on 1/30/09 before they go on a big ass tour all over. Apparently in April they’ll be hitting a bunch of venues all through Spain with the Buzzcocks. What a bill!