I recently rewatched the 1999 black comedy, Jawbreaker, which I had not seen since my older brother and I rented it from Blockbuster when we were teenagers. I did not remember much from my original viewing; the initial disturbing death, my own discomfort in watching a blow job scene sitting next to my sibling (more than likely sharing popcorn from a bowl with our family painted on it), and the prominent track from the soundtrack. “Yoo Hoo” by Imperial Teen might be the perfect walking down a hallway in slow motion song I’ve ever heard.
“Mosquitos”, the opening track to Trash Rocket’s sophomore album, Lipstick Remedies, immediately brought the 90s fuzz pop nostalgia back to my cold heart. The intros offer a similar feeling of wanting people to notice you as you get out of a really cool car. Imperial Teen pounds out a slow driving phrase with a four on the floor drum beat, whereas Trash Rocket delivers the same vibe with a guitar riff that alternates where the accent note lies, keeping the listener engaged. As vocalist, Monster Bonecrusher, begins to sing, “Mosquitoes are still asleep, early summer slowly blinks”, I feel an urge to find a Frutopia and dig out my Veruca Salt CD.
“Mosquitos is about just being. Being alive in our late capitalism society,” says lead singer, Monster Bonecrusher. “We wanted that vibe as the start of the album – I wrote the two chord riff reminiscent of Wreckless Erick’s Whole Wide World. I’m a big fan of two chord riffs. It’s chill and simple and the best attitude to have around this mess we are in, I think.”
The juxtaposition of intensity between “Mosquitoes” and the second track, “Makes No Sense” is alarming, but necessary. Have you ever been so fucked up that you forgot you were holding a cigarette until it burns your fingers? I suppose a more relatable scenario would be falling asleep on a warm beach, only to be woken up by the rising tide. Either way, the second track is the kick in the dick we need to sober up and pay attention. With a Riot grrrl chorus, the song is fun and catchy enough to sing along, but the verses keep it interesting with a heaviness that is often not met by the genre. I went back and listened to this one several times, it’s a straight bop.
When I asked the band about the different vibe of each song, drummer, Mikey, replied “Most of the songs had a skeleton structure but each of us were given creative freedom to come up with our parts.” The band cites multiple influences on their writing, ranging from REM to Aphex Twin; “that one just never shows” jokes bassist, Hodge. Tonally, the album is consistent throughout. Your basic pedal nerd can identify the warm fuzziness of a Big Muff, and it is heard loud and clear on this record. Bonecrusher confirmed the use of the iconic fuzz pedal, as well as a clone made by indy pedal maker Sean Ryan, who I am currently waiting on to accept my Instagram follow (bro, I’m cool, I SWEAR).
In terms of punk, these songs are long. Four of the twelve tracks go over 5 minutes. This band lets every instrument breathe in each song. In “Hold My Thoughts” you can really enjoy the layering of the arrangement as the intro unfolds. <Hodge> “ It was first created when Craig, Mikey, and I were jamming while Monster was tuning her guitar. Once she was ready, we were ready to practice a set for a show coming up, but she thankfully said we should at least do a phone recording of the idea before moving on. The way the song starts is basically the order of how each person came in originally with Mikey first.”
The title track comes in very last on the album, giving the listener a soft goodbye hug (with hand claps!). It has this wonderful synth keyboard melody that begs to be included as part of an end movie credit. The order of songs on the entire album seems carefully curated, creating a very clear path for the listener. I’m a stickler for listening to an album in its entirety, simply because I feel most artists arrange songs for us to get lost in, in a particular order.
This album is a lot of fun, and very palatable to a wide rock fan audience; L7, Ramones, My Bloody Valentine, and The Breeders are just a few artists that came to mind as I was listening through. Make sure to hop over to their Bandcamp page to download the album, and go see them play live! I’ve had the privilege of sharing a stage with them, and they put on one hell of a show.
Nicole is a lover of music, movies, and margaritas. Aside from writing for PA and Find out, she also plays in Curse Words, Collider, and Accidents. You can probably find her playing guitar in a punk act at some shitty bar in DC or taking 1000 photos of her cats.