It’s hard to think that once Fat Wreck was a label with both feet firmly in the So Cal punk scene and bugger everything else. Now they have bands like The Epoxies and Against Me!, as well as Strike Anywhere and now The Soviettes. Four bands that pretty much couldn’t be any different if they tried. This female fronted mob first came to prominence on the Rock Against Bush compilation with their two-minute 70s influenced punk-pop nuggets. Imagine The B-52s crossed with The Undertones, with the girls from The Dance Hall Crashers on vocal duties. That’s about the odd combination you have here.
One thing’s for certain, ‘LPIII’ is very fast-paced. Songs fly in and out like Superman on his way to rescue a damsel in distress, meaning the band neevr outstay their welcome. Their quirky sound puts them in a league of their own, even though it’s not something I’m completely sold by. On songs like ‘Paranoia Cha Cha Cha!’ and ‘Whoa’ the band are fearsomely catchy, but then there are tracks like ‘Middle of the Night’ which chug on rather aimlessly. There’s a certain lo-fi feel to the production which stands out rather nicely too, making this record feel like its come straight out of the seventies. Which is probably the point of it all. Not so much a brave move by Fat (we’ve come to expect their bands to be different…) as an interesting one. The Soviettes don’t really sound like anyone else, and for that fact alone they’re well worth checking out.
www.thesoviettes.net
Fat Wreck
Paul