New album: Tha Retail Simps || Reverberant Scratch: 9 Shots in tha Dark

We listen to a lot of new music at ATW. If you are a regular visitor of our site, you know that being original or different is not a necessary part for great music in our book. Most of the releases we cover, I believe, have an instant likeability from mere exposure to similar sounds in the past, with just the right execution and a certain freshness to still excite us. And then, sometimes you come across a record whose individual parts may sound familiar, but its sum sounding totally different and surprising. The debut by Tha Retail Simps is a prime example.

Its press release reads: “What if the Velvet Underground had written ‘Wooly Bully’ and Sam The Sham ‘Sister Ray?’ If Ron House picked up some bongos and joined CCR or If Half Japanese and Hasil Adkins started a Meters cover band?” If that piqued your interest, wait until you hear the nine tracks on Reverberant Scratch: 9 Shots in tha Dark. What a thrill! There is so much to discover, so many detours. It rocks, it rolls, it confuses. It’s loud, it’s dirty and full of attitude, but also suprisingly gentle and nuanced. It’s punk, but will make audiences dance rather than pogo.

A couple of spins in, I still feel I’ve only touched the surface of understanding the true value of Reverberant Scratch: 9 Shots in tha Dark. And that is one of the many reasons why this needs to be in my collection ASAP. Available for streaming purposes now, vinyl expected to ship from Total Punk on March 25.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Total Punk