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REVIEWS: The Scrams EP (DC-027) The last of the organ-driven Scrams records? The sounds on this two-song 7-inch lie somewhere between surf, garage and the soundtrack from Dr. Phibes Rises Again. These two tunes are better than the band’s recently released CD and a bit goofier than the first Scrams single. The B-side's catchy as hell, with killer breaks complete with “sha-la la-la-la-la”s. There’s now a bass player (Kenta Henmi from Suicide Lanes) and no Farfisa in the live show, but with a natural-born singer, and drums and guitar like this, there's no need to panic. Catch these guys at the Launchpad June 1 with Guitar Wolf. – Geoff Plant The Scrams (SCRAM2) Sometimes, especially these days, you hear a garage trash rock band and just don't dig it. But the magic of garage trash rock is supposed to be what happens when you hear a no-frills, organ-damaged, ultra-kick ass act like the Scrams: You think to yourself, "Dude...garage trash rock is so inherently awesome that ALL OF IT IS GOOD!" If only that which the Scrams make us dream of was actually true... Garage rock from New Mexico way. I remember their 7" having a little something going on...run-of-the-mill garage done with some good attitude. On these 11 tracks they sound a little hokey though. The singer turns out to be a real hambone and the organ gets a bit arduous. The first half-dozen tracks are just an exercise in mediocre bar rock until they finally hit their stride for the last few tracks, "Goat Throat" and "Chimp Necropsy" have some bite to them and the organ actually adds some edge instead of the cornball touch it lends to other tracks. That being said, those tracks aren't even all that great, just the cream of a sub-par crop. At least they took the time to handcraft some sleeves. – Rich Kroneiss Raucous garage rockers from New Mexico – these songs are drenched with sun
baked drunken sweat. A party that lasts 30 minutes and almost as many beers,
for fans of Oblivians and Reigning Sound and all other forms of organ saturated
high energy rock ’n’ roll. – Robert I encountered The Scrams from New Mexico first on RadiOblivion. A few days later, I heard the band on The Big Enchilada podcast. Those two samples were enough to get me to check out more of the band. (Aren't podcasts great?) The album begins with "Exiles," a lo-fi garage (seriously, it sounds like it was recorded in someone's garage...and that's a good thing) romp that includes everything that is great about garage rock: loud drums and guitars, organ, and a tempo that makes you think the band members had a cab waiting when they recorded it. And if it's a breakneck tempo you want, you will love the songs "Magma" and "Steve Sangre." I think there is no way you'll be able to keep still when you hear these songs. Something about "Officer Touchy" is immediately familiar. As the song progressed, I realized what it was. The delivery of the vocals in this song reminds me a lot of Gaz Coombes of Supergrass. Only not quite as polished. I'm not sure exactly why, but garage rock bands seem to have some affinity for monsters, aliens, urban legends, and generally spooky themes. The Scrams join in with a song called "La Llorona." The tone of this song definitely fits with the story of a soul condemned to wander the earth in search of the children she drowned. The band also has a song about aliens called "Space Jeeps." If you were making a low-budget sci-fi movie about little green men, this is the sort of song you could use as the theme. This is not a complex album. If you like loud, raw, uptempo songs less than three minutes long, you will love this self-titled album from The Scrams. And when your friends tell you your music is "weird," just turn this album up to drown them out and tell them there is no room in your collection for Dave Matthews Band. Or whoever they listen to. – Gary Schwind The Scrams single-handedly fill a long-gaping hole in our local scene: a trashy garage rock combo with frantic hooks and sonic mayhem. “La Llorona” is a far cry from the muy triste folk song of the same name. This original forsakes the sadness of the ghostly mother forlornly searching for the children she drowned when jilted by her lover. It depicts a tortured soul consumed with vengeful fury and indelibly marks the band as New Mexico home boys. The Scrams’ rock and roll is as hot as a bowl of straight green chile with no tortilla on the side. – Captain America Alibi One day last year, I was listening to a show by a fellow GaragePunk podcaster (RadiOblivion’s Michael Kaiser, who lives in Tennessee), and he announced a fun, rocking, heavy-on-the-Farfisa band called The Scrams from “Steve Terrell’s backyard in New Mexico.” I went out and checked — they weren’t there. He was lying. But later I found out that The Scrams were only some 60 miles away, in Albuquerque. Just recently The Scrams released a full-length, self titled album that fulfills the promise of the songs on the first 7-inch EP they released last year. They’ve only been around for less than two years, and they call their sound “warehouse rock.” Started by guitarist Juan Carlos Rodriguez and drummer Nate Daly, other Scrams include singer Joseph Cardillo, Farfisa-nut Daniel Eiland, and bassist Matthew Vanek. All tracks, from the opening shout of “1,2,3,4,” on “Exiles” to the weird sonic blast that follows “Cry, Cry Cry (In the U.S.A.)” — it sounds like backward masking — is raw garage joy. The first tune that grabbed me was “La Llorona,” a song about a local girl. She murdered her children and is now doomed to eternally wandering the arroyos as a wailing ghost. The Scrams pay her spooky justice. There’s a song called “Chimp Necropsy,” which may or may not be about those poor medical-experiment chimps in Alamogordo. I can’t make out the lyrics here to save my life. I’m not sure what “Goat Throat” is about, either. Maybe The Scrams are trying to warn the world about some sort of human-animal hybrid. Whatever, it’s an irresistible little tune with just a hint of ’60s-style soul. “Space Jeeps” is a science-fiction adventure, while “Cry, Cry Cry” almost sounds like The Fleshtones mangling Dion & The Belmonts’ “Teenager in Love.” I’d be proud to have The Scrams in my backyard. If you want a hard copy of the CD, you’ll have to buy it from The Scrams. You can download the MP3 version for free at www.thescrams.com. – Stephen TerrellSCRAM 7" (SCRAM1) It’s
demented, dance-y garage-punk with a ’60s organ sound and a singer that
has a kind of whiny, high-pitched voice – but in a good way. “The
Molasses” cracks me up. Just the idea of creating a dance where you
move slow and stick to the floor, yet it is danceable. Brilliant! –
Carolyn Keddy Ah, ye 7” underground rock EP format—makes ya feel young again! This Albuquerque five have hit on the appropriate vehicle for their raspy, ornery, post-punk update of a raucous ’60s garage band (the main element of the latter being Dan Eiland’s ? and the Mysterians’ organ looping around the guitars like a figure skater making eights), as the surface noise of hot wax fits Joe Cardillo’s growling vocal and the band’s dirty-guitar and hyper drums (N8 Daly) propulsion to a “v” for vinyl. This being 2009, the band helpfully provides a download link for MP3s of the same four songs. But take it from us; this kind of frenetic rock‘n’roll deserves the hotter, louder, wilder tone of analog. — Jack Rabid The Big Takeover This flexibly sized combo from Albuquerque, New Mexico performs modern garage rock with debts to some of the bizarre injections to provided by Memphis groups in the last century. But it's pretty straight ahead once you slice through the reverb. Jiminy! — Bryon Coley Wire Organ-laced garage punk with echo on the vocals and a loose spiritedness, if that's a word. If not, I just invented it. It's certainly not clean or polished but also absent of trash-can production or noise overload. Two quick ravers ("Ralph Rook," Dram Shopper") and two more danceable ditties. Enjoyably trashy. — Al Quint Suburban Voice Three cheers for new New Mexi rock and roll. More cheers for music pressed on wax. This vinyl 7-inch contains four Farfisa-driven, greasy garage tracks. Due to the prominent organ, it bears similarities to the first album by—and I know bands hate to be compared to other bands, but I can't not mention this—British ghouls The Horrors. The songs are short, sweet and dirty. There's even a dance craze. And it's all over too soon. For more, go see The Scrams live at Burt's Tiki Lounge this Saturday. — Jessica Cassyle Carr Alibi The Scrams hail from Albuquerque, New Mexico and sound like they have a pretty good thing going: Keyboard-driven rock’n’roll that’s raw and unrefined, kinda like the first Cococoma and Okmoniks 7”s. The songs don’t develop much past their initial inspiration or idea, but there is promise and hope contained in these grooves. Take “Molasses.” The Scrams hearken back to the ’60s, writing a song about a brand new dance, the Molasses. The lyrics are jokey and the tune doesn’t move much past the novelty of a dance based on being lazy in a climate known for extreme heat. But, the guitar riff clearly references the Sonics version of “Have Love Will Travel,” and the keyboards dance over the top of the melody without drowning it out completely. The band bio says they’ve only been playing together since 2009, so I’m betting their songwriting will improve vastly over the next few releases. — Josh Benke RAZORCAKE By-the-book garage rock with organ out of Albuquerque New Mex. Fairly straight-laced, I think every town has a band like this. Rock'n'roll beer drinking dudes playing some of the ol' garage rawk and havin' a good time. I enjoyed listening to this a couple of times. "(Do) The Molasses" was pretty cool. Actually, all the songs were pretty decent. Like I wouldn't be pissed if I went to a bar and they were playing. But I probably wouldn't go to see them on purpose though, you know what I mean? —Rich K. Terminal Boredom |
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THE SCRAMS | 1204 LEAD AVE. SW | ALBUQUERQUE NM 87102 | THESCRAMS@GMAIL.COM
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