The Queers

The Queers: Pleasant ScreamsPleasant Screams (2002)
Lookout Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

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Contributed by: StevieSaintPaulStevieSaintPaul
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on April 17th 2002Yummy,Yummy,Yummy I got Tuscan in my Tummy. Remember that jingle? I sure do! Last month I turned on my television and observed Ernie Anastas tell me a little bedtime story on the late night news about the Ramones and Talking Heads hitting the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame. Not only did this .

Yummy,Yummy,Yummy I got Tuscan in my Tummy.

Remember that jingle? I sure do!

Last month I turned on my television and observed Ernie Anastas tell me a little bedtime story on the late night news about the Ramones and Talking Heads hitting the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame. Not only did this send me a sharp feeling of ultimate compunction, but not less than a week later I pulled up to a red traffic light only to be filled with a convoluted tune coming from the inside of the car next to me that couldn't be mistaken for "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"-- The car driven by a red nosed prick in a pink Lacoste shirt.(See Amazing Crowns review) I was quite taken back, maybe a little disgusted at first. But alas! The little pink man pulls down his power windows and yells my name. Blasphemy! It was my father. Last time I saw my father ( December '01) he had put down Joey Ramone's version of Sonny Bono's "Needles and Pinzzuh".I am presently looking foward to more occasions like this.

The Queers have been around since the early eighties. You might have heard of the infamous Drunken Cholos. If not, nobody cares. You won't find the Drunken Cholos in Best Buy anyway. The Queers are one of the few bands that rip off the Ramones and the Beach Boys and are remarkably good at doing so. The Queers are one of three bands that were so taken back by the Ramones sound they covered a complete Ramones album. (They also get a lot of shit for "wanting" to sound so much like them but when more than a dozen bands rip off Pennywise no one dares to rasp a tongue)

If you are familiar with the Queers and fell off after their last couple albums, you will notice a line up change on the new LP. In 1999, longtime drummer Hugh O' Neil succumbed to brain cancer. Brian Wilson er, Joe Queer had this to say about him :

"Hugh was a great drummer, one of the best I ever saw. Nor one of those west-coast faggot drummers who play star NOFX BULLSHIT - but a straight ahead punk drummer who kept the fucking beat without making production out of it. The other story about Hugh is that he was a true punk. He didn't need the whole purple mohawk and Doc Martens to be a punk rocker. He was the real thing. An on again/off again junkie, he partied with the best of 'em. We had many funny escapades on tour but to be truthful they weren't all that when we did them."

Longtime chum and collaborator, Ben Weasel contributed to a couple tracks on this album and The Queer fellows also touched up an unfinished Joey Ramone song, " I Wanna Be Happy". YES, there is a Donovan song covered on here as well and a song, "Debbie Be True" by the Fantastic Baggies. Every song on Pleasant Screams (note the similarity to Ramone's Pleasant Dreams), is nothing but traditional Queers. That's the bottom line.

Since I heard the Queers in the early nineties with their debut on Lookout! "Grow Up", they certainly haven't done so and they certainly haven't changed their sound. Joe Queer's songwriting has not tarnished and his sequential knack for writing a silly love song (ie: the album Don't Back Down) has been continued successfully with the new lineup, even leaving me to believe most of his songs surpass most Beach Boys tunes.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (June 17, 2006)

Oh, my world. It is ok

Anonymous (February 18, 2003)

In comparing it to another album this one is like Punk Rock Confidential,which of course means this album is great.

A few trivia facts seemed to be off.
1. Dan Vapid played bass in Screeching Weasel, (for the most part), and the songs about a Dan on this album is about him.
2. Dan Panic played drums in Screeching Weasel and he had absolutly nothing to do with this album.
(I dont know who was getting confused up above, but those are the facts).
3. Someone mentioned Get a life and Live it looser, and as I recall Ben Weasel wrote that song, or whichever song it was back then that was about Dan Vapid, not Joe Queer.
4. The Queers rock and always will.

xo
aric

Anonymous (July 26, 2002)

Best song is I wanna Be Happy. Tick Tock is pretty bad ass too. Buy it if you like the Queers; if not, you won't like it. Best punk band out there beyond a doubt and the most fun shows I have been to. Drunken Cholos was not their old name. It was always the Queers. The old members (Joe, Wimpy, Tulu?) got back together and used a name other than the Queers so as not to confuse people who were into the newer Queers sound. Get a Life is about Dan Panic.

hein (July 10, 2002)

What are you talking about? Dan Vapid doesn't do drums. He is playing second guitar and does some backing vocals if I'm not mistaken. The drummer is Matt Drashl from the Teen Idols (which BTW is a band that you have to check out when you like this stuff)

Anonymous (April 21, 2002)

Dan Vapid from Screeching Weasel is playing drums. You might also note that the song "Loser (Get a life and live it)" from about 5 years ago on hopeless was about Dan. Joe has a way of getting in pissing matches with people and then begging them to be in his band. He needs to get off smack and mellow out.

Anonymous (April 19, 2002)

I haven't liked any Queers stuff in a long time, so I was prepared to dismiss this one as well. For some reason, it's really good, and I feel really dumb.

Anonymous (April 18, 2002)

Ummm...this album is really good. I enjoyed it alot. I wouldn't say that it's as good as "Don't back down" or "Love songs for the retarded" but I'd say it's right behind those two. The new drummer is Matt from Teen Idols. He does a really good job. One of the best drummers is modern three chord pop punk today. I would pick this cd up if I were you

Anonymous (April 18, 2002)

That was a pretty useless review. Who is the drummer now? Is it the same one from Beyond the Valley... or is it the one on Punk Rock Confidential? Is it the one from Beat Off?
I have yet to read a review that has helped me with this. I thought Beyond the valley... was severly underproduced but I think Punk Rock Confidential was great. They dropped the ball on the last album, but have they gotten back? Someone help
Compare this record to another queers record.

callinglondon (April 18, 2002)

sounds cool. i think i'm gonna pick this CD up when i have the money to.