Punknews.org

|
Sign In | create an account

Red City Radio

To the Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie (2009)
The Independent Record Company

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on July 7th 2009

Listening to Red City Radio's To the Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie EP, it's a bit of a shock the band signed with Eyeball. This is exactly the type of gravelly, upbeat punk rock with a market already cornered by No Idea and Kiss of Death. Some bands just do it better than others, though, and I guess Red City Radio are doing it so well that a bigger label noticed and stepped up to the plate for them.

This EP, released by another smaller label with a self-explanatory "Grizzled Pop" sticker on the front, is definitely one of the better examples of it in recent memory. There is indeed a glass-gargling member here, but there's also a more strained sounding guy who sometimes sounds like Paddy Costello (particularly the "It's the irony of being an American / support your troops so we can piss on a veteran" couplet in "No One Believes in Moons & Goochers"), giving a great dynamic to the whole thing. The general carmraderie and energy here gives Latterman, New Bruises and Hot Water Music fans in general new reasons to continue breathing.

But it never really sounds too cheeky. There's more downbeat, cautious moments of optimism present in places like "We Are the Sons of Woody Guthrie" ("I'm just tryin' to find a better way out, I'm just tryin' to find a better way out"). Classy backing "whoa"s and layered vocals cleverly make up "If All Else Fails Play Dead."

A little more versatility here and there and this band will definitely go places. As is, the frills are virtually non-existent and this is basically just smartly played and written punk rock that Fest fans always hope for.

STREAM
Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads
No One Believes in Moons & Goochers
We Are the Sons of Woody Guthrie

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.

What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

dutchbrian (June 4, 2010)

sweetness

skalastics (June 4, 2010)

man those guys are dicks! im talkin to you paul

johnnyawesome (April 25, 2010)

You have no idea how excited I am to see these guys live. oh yeah, its gonna kick so much ass.

MrStylson (August 25, 2009)

This EP is outstanding. I can't wait to hear more from them

avery7190 (August 6, 2009)

Saw these guys on 4th of July with Riverboat Gamblers. Amazing band live.

vinhoff (August 6, 2009)

Pretty fantastic EP

Slacker (July 8, 2009)

This band is awesome based on those three songs

KurtTGS (July 8, 2009)

Love this band. More people should know about them and I'm sure they will soon enough. I'm surprised the review didn't mention the masterful recording/producing job done by Stephen Egerton.

Blackjaw_x (July 7, 2009)

Oh, and Eyeball has/had Voice In The Wire, Signal to Noise and Blackout Pact, all of which this band fits in well with.

Blackjaw_x (July 7, 2009)

I haven't gotten around to getting this yet, but I had ripped the demos they had on myspace and remember them being excellent.

TheLando (July 7, 2009)

will be checking this out.

poopie (July 7, 2009)

Great EP, super nice dudes that always put on a great show. Can't wait for the full length.

IanIsSuperRad (July 7, 2009)

Learned of these guys through the Fest message board. Good shit. Adding them to my list of bands to see at The Fest.

party-animal (July 7, 2009)

Played our first show with them and playing with them again on the 16th. They put on an amazing show and make a small 50-person bar feel like a fucking arena rock show, which is a good thing. They also know how to party which is aces in my book. Haven't heard the new stuff yet but the score is for the split I have and the live show. See Y'all next week!

xshoutoutx (July 7, 2009)

ya... they're good

airandseabattle (July 7, 2009)

great band. i can't wait to hear the full length!