Most very short albums tend to be by very cutesy twee-pop bands. They get away with it courtesy of the fact that their cardigan be-decked fans tend to revel in the ‘brevity of the art’. It would all be somewhat pretentious if such sorts were not so bloody ‘nice’.

However, musical conciseness can be delivered with a much more rambunctious allure. Enter the Teenage Tom Petties, the latest project of Wiltshire’s Tom Brown (of Rural France fame) and their 8 tracks / 14 minutes of gloriously unalloyed jangle punk.

Separated by tempo rather than energy or quality, there are two primary nuances to this album, that was released today (03 June 2022) on Repeating Cloud and Safe Suburban Home Records.

Initially, there is a sense of ‘crashing jangle / garage’. This is best represented by the brilliance of Boatyard Winch, Lambo and the superlative stand out My Name Is Chaos. All Ryan Allen and his Extra Arms in jangle-punk extremes, the jangled riffs just about win their fight to be heard through a The Monks style garage rock mayhem.

When the tempo reduces, extra layers of musicality are revealed. Here Boxroom Bangers and Boxroom Blues revel in Big Thief style lo-fi production, dulcet Dunedin Sound  jangled riffs and the most subtle of fuzz inflections. In the context of the whole album this is a welcome respite from the gerneal aggression and offers a vibe reminiscent of the earliest of The Lemonheads albums.

Good enough to make Tom Brown wonder what his day job act is? Very much so !

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