Record Review: The Cavemen "Nuke Earth" (Slovenly Recordings)

$13.50 //
https://slovenly.bandcamp.com/album/the-cavemen-nuke-earth-lp //

The Cavemen come out swinging on "Nuke Earth".   My neighbors play terrible rap music all the time.  I'm not saying rap music is terrible, I'm saying they play that radio shit.  One day, they walked by my door and were laughing really loud, it sounded like something worse than what you would imagine from a highlight reel of "The Nanny".    So once they got inside I put this record on and drowned out their fighting.

They don't make them like The Cavemen any more.   At least I didn't think they did because this record is evidence that they do.    From bands like New Bomb Turks and River City Rebels, I hear pieces of Guttermouth and even Iggy Pop in here (And not just because the first song is called "Lust For Evil")  Spelling out "B-A-B-Y" on "Chernobyl Baby" makes me think of the Ramones and really these songs could fit in just as well in the 1970's with that whole scene in CBGB's as they could in the pit now.

Though isn't that the biggest problem in punk music right now?  Too many bands sound like... Well, not punk.  Kids used to sneak out of their house, steal a car to see a punk show.   Now their parents drive them and make them check in, ~especially if they play that one song I like~.   It just feels like the term "punk" has been so bastardized there's no coming back from it because no matter how much you sound like The Clash or Ramones or Sex Pistols, if you tell someone you're punk they're going to say "Oh, you mean like Fall Out Boy?" or some other band doing more harm than good to the scene.

The funny thing about my mentioning Fall Out Boy is that people then think if they're not punk then that must mean that punk rock can't be good music.   You can't play your instruments well or have melodies and catchy hooks.   But punk rock was built on melodies and catchy hooks.  They had the appearance of not being able to play but were actually some of the most talented musicians out there at the time because they were doing what no one else was (Same can be said for The Cavemen right now)

Some of the best guitar riffs you'll ever hear are in a song called "Gimme Beer Or Gimme Death".   These have their sing along moments where if you listen to "Nuke Earth" a few times through you'll be raising your fist in the air and singing the words too, but they're also wild-- they're dangerous.    Perhaps the best way to describe this music is that sense of unknown.   You could go see The Cavemen live and have a great night, everything goes according to plan.   But it also has that unpredictable nature to it like if you saw them live maybe a full riot would break out.   That's why I love punk rock so much.  That's why I love The Cavemen.