Rip It Up
Slovenly
2019
Rating: 8.5 popped knuckles out of 10
On first listen this Gino And The Goons record breezed right past my ears. Normally, given the sheer volume of new music out these days, that would mean “Rip It Up” would have promptly gotten filed away and forgotten about. A few days later though, I was out walking around at lunch time searching for a way to quench my angry stomach and decided to give it a second listen…maybe it was accentuated by my hunger, but goddamn did this sound perfect to me at that moment. It served as a nice reminder, at least to myself, that some things don’t hit right away…sometimes a change in the listening experience will change the way you receive the tunes. Sure, your first instinct that an album isn’t worth your energy is correct 99% of the time, but every once in a while something great slips through the cracks, and I’m glad I caught this one before it was too late.
ANYWAYS – as for the actual band and music itself, Gino And The Goons are from Florida. This has now brought the list of good things about this ridiculous state up to five – Tom Petty, the Everglades, manatees, and the abundance of Cuban pork being the other four. I think this band & album would get lumped under the umbrella of “garage punk,” but more specifically it sounds like the best possible combination of the Stooges & the Heartbreakers, with a singer that sometimes reminds me of the New York Doll’s David Johansen in his delivery. The music is distorted and catchy and everything you could possibly want from an album in this genre. I’ve listened to this so many damn times now it’s hard to imagine how this didn’t get under my skin from the very first listen – opener “Watch You Shine” is a stomper that gets instantly stuck in your head, and it never lets up from there. If this is a style of music that speaks to you at all, I would be shocked if “Rip It Up” doesn’t become a fast favorite.
(Note: this record was actually self-released by the band last year, but since Slovenly just re-released it and it’s new to me I’m counting it as a 2019 release, goddammit.)
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