Even though it's nothing like sleepy London Town there's still not more a lot more to do in financially-strapped Greece these days than sing in a rock and roll band. Even the olive trees are out of work. Bazooka hails from that place (Greece, not London) and plays a rumbling, surly brand of lo-fi rock and roll that sits perfectly in the formidable Slovenly Music stable.
These 13 songs are neither overpowering or over-reaching. They're muddy and dense with the melodies ("Bye Bye Girl") buried way down deep but they know their limitations. There's a crankiness to some of them that's over-turned by a toothy grin like "Summer Song." They might be economically fucked but the Greeks can still smile.
The musical place in which Bazooka sits most comfortably is sludgy and warm, two guitars and no bottom end riding a surging wave of fuzz and distortion that's usually just short of pushing the needle right into the red. Of course there's an exception to every rule and "Mr George" is an outright shouter, a bellyaching brute of a tune that rides a swirling drone to an inevitable wind-down conclusion.
Bazooka (and bands like them) have one foot planted in the beat band '60s and the other in a bucket of blood and guts. Even when they turn (as opposed to tune) down on an introspective track like "Church" there's a quirky, disorienting feeling to the music that places it in the garages and warehouse parties of today.
My guess here is Athens is like Brisbane in Australia - it has a thriving underground music scene that gets along quite nicely without much in the way of help from the outside world. Bazooka is one of the flowers in a global dustbin that (hopefully) will continue to produce blooms.
3/4
