One of the fascinating and enjoyable parts of watching 2013 unfold is the wait as it becomes clearer that 2013 is not, as promised by every lazy outlet in January, the Year Guitar Music Came Back, but the year guitar music kept sort-of-threatening-to-become-mainstream-pop-music-but-didn’t-quite-get-around-to-it?
For those who desperately need to sate their guitar fix, confusion awaits: you could go and see the Rolling Stones strut their stuff in an enormodome, or you might grab a handful of smaller gigs from eager up-and-comers. Which most accurately describes guitar music today? Both? Neither?
Hell, if you’re going to be fibbed to about the realistic state of Guitar Music, you may as well hedge your bets: go and watch the old-timers so you have a pouty point of reference and then go and watch a bunch of scuzzy so-and-so’s like The Semper Teens jump around for a bit.
The Semper Teens have risen from the ashes of a band whose name I forget.
Of course, the old band will never be important again: its the lessons learnt that now count. And boy, The Semper Teens have nailed the whole verse-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus-CHORUS thing in frenetic fashion: Somebody is daft ‘n’ direct as a scuzzy guitar pop song gets.
Each ingredient is just so: the bassline bounces with – yes – a groove, the lyrics are as complex and empty as they need to be, the guitars crunch snappily in the exact manner you prefer whether you realise it or not.
No, they’re not offering anything other than a dumb good time done right, and they should be rewarded for exactly this. Nice job.
Their digital downloads have sold out. They can do the impossible!
The bass line is a boss. All Rock’n’Roll goes in the red … and this does! Love the high energy, well done The Semper Teens!