Following Screeching Weasel's very public self-destruction at SXSW last year, we now get to answer the question of who put out the best post-break-up work. Well, if Screeching Weasel II's Carnival of Schadenfreude EP and Dan Vapid's self-titled LP with The Cheats are anything to go by, Vapid's just kicked Weasel's ass.
Weasel's rushed-sounding EP reeks of self-pity and petulance (see the title track or "Under the Bus" for damning evidence). On the other hand, Vapid, who's also been in Sludgeworth, The Riverdales, The Methadones and Noise By Numbers, has picked himself up from a devastating loss and begun yet another new band, Dan Vapid and The Cheats. Vapid's new band draw on '77 punk, power pop, new wave and sixties girl group ('natch) to delirious effect. Killer tunes like "Baby Baby Get Over Yourself" and "Heartbeat" survey the wreckage of the past with steely-eyed optimism and a near-complete absence of bitterness.
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Totally agree that this LP blows away the Screeching Weasel EP. Under The Bus has to be one of the worst songs ever written.
ReplyDeleteYeah Ben needs a strong second in his bands.
DeleteYeah, this beats Screeching Weasel. Kinda hard not to.
ReplyDeleteFair enough but I still love the old SW...
DeleteNever gave a crap.
ReplyDeleteThat''s kinda too bad when they were at their peak SW were one of the bets bands going.
DeleteI don't know much of the later SW albums, but 'Beginningless vacation' was a great song.
ReplyDeleteAnd this album sounds great, and indeed optimistic.
I thought that last album sounded pretty good but just stopped listening to it cold when the shit storm went down. I might go back to it later on...
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