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Teenage Bottlerocket / The Ergs!

Under the Influence Vol. 4 [7 inch] (2008)
Suburban Home Records

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Contributed by: Torgo
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Published on January 13th 2009

Many punk rock fans are salivating at the Under the Influence series (can you imagine when the Gaslight Anthem / American Steel volume is released?). This is the first one I purchased: two beloved modern pop-punk bands hit us with cover choices that aren’t surprising if you’re a fan of either the band.

Teenage Bottlerocket tackles Green Day’s “Having a Blast,” one of the best tracks off their seminal masterpiece (yeah, I said it), Dookie. Teenage Bottlerocket takes the BPM up a few notches, and the harmony is improved over the Green Day version, but other than that it’s a carbon copy cover. I would have liked to see them take it to a different plain. While it’s crisp and completely listenable, there’s no incentive to listen to it over the original, which should be rule #1 when attempting to cover a song.

The other side shows the Ergs! take on Devo’s “Blockhead.” Where Devo uses muted guitars and synthesizers, the Ergs! transform it into dirty punk rock. Even the loud, monotone gang vocals of “Blockhead!” at the end of the Devo version is turned into a more familiar hardcore-sounding call-and-response. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the song is hearing how much Jeff Erg’s guitar playing is influenced by Devo, something I’m sure he wouldn’t be afraid to admit.

The Ergs! win this battle, but overall the set works like bubble gum -- delicious for a handful of spins but isn’t long lasting. Thanks to Suburban Home offering a free digital download with purchase; you won’t have to feel guilty about taking it out of your record player. Although, you may want to keep the 7" jacket in view for quite some time, as Mitch Clem's take on Dookie is endlessly funny and cute.

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neverbeenbetter (July 26, 2009)

these guys look like gays

inagreendase (January 16, 2009)

I haven't heard the Ergs! side yet, but based on my favoritism towards Dookie and TBR's bang-up job, this might be the first split ever where the band I like less comes out the winner.

"Oh, I expected Paul Blart: Mall Cop to be stupid, and it was... so that makes it alright then."

This actually makes perfect sense to me.

ashtraymonument (January 15, 2009)

enjoyable I guess. the mustard plug/BTMI! one is the best so far.

I loved the TBR side of the cover. fucking blood bath at burger king, Blake and Fletcher, Joey Ramone, the dude about to give the hippy the chair. amazing

ChokingVictim (January 15, 2009)

i really enjoyed the TBR cover.

chrisafi (January 14, 2009)

Tom Gabel addition - I admit, same league.

Greenday - you might not have given two shits, but I remember Warning in 2000(?) causing a massive shit storm between 'it's a return to dookie' and 'arse' camps

mikeinflames (January 14, 2009)

"Greenday, been awhile since their name dropped in.

I believe they are coming back this year - they are alongside AFI (also releasing this year) the band best at pissing more and more people off with every release, its quite phenomenal."

what are you talking about? no one gave two shits about green day for years. pretty much from 1996 to 2004.

GlassPipeMurder (January 14, 2009)

it's also on iTunes for 99 cents. just got it / love it. forgot how much i loved Dookie.

theonetruebill (January 14, 2009)

Aaaaaaaaaand Gotsmuch just summed up exactly what's wrong with punk rock/vinyl collective right there.

gotsmuch (January 13, 2009)

yeah but it's a vinyl-only release... so if you collect, you don't care what a review of the record says. i bought all 3 colors.

warmchords (January 13, 2009)

I'll probably look around for this just because of the ergs!

wonton (January 13, 2009)

pretty awesome.

mitch clem's take on dookie alone makes this worth your money.

Dudley_Shale (January 13, 2009)

Posted by chrisafi on 2009-01-13 20:53:07

Greenday, been awhile since their name dropped in.

I believe they are coming back this year - they are alongside AFI (also releasing this year) the band best at pissing more and more people off with every release, its quite phenomenal.

Tom Gabel is OFFENDED.

Torgo (January 13, 2009)

theonetruebill:

I see your point, but that doesn't make it okay. That's like saying, "Oh, I expected Paul Blart: Mall Cop to be stupid, and it was... so that makes it alright then."

chrisafi (January 13, 2009)

Greenday, been awhile since their name dropped in.

I believe they are coming back this year - they are alongside AFI (also releasing this year) the band best at pissing more and more people off with every release, its quite phenomenal.

theonetruebill (January 13, 2009)

I want to know what everyone was expecting from the Teenage Bottlerocket side. Seriously. Did you really expect them to radically re-invent the song or something?

crackpotdemagogue (January 13, 2009)

this shit is the shit!

aahhhh (January 13, 2009)

but for real, this split is awesome

aahhhh (January 13, 2009)

your moms face is my seminal masterpiece (yeah, I said it)

MN_punkmaster-skaman (January 13, 2009)

Good review, but I really enjoyed both covers equally.

JerryCola (January 13, 2009)

The TBR side is bland but the Ergs! really did an amazing cover, it makes me wish they would have put out a covers album before they broke up.

damo (January 13, 2009)

the TB track is disappointing. sounds like the song is going thru the motions. hopefully it's just shite production