With new music in 2023 so ubiquitous it becomes increasingly hard to predict which records are modern classics. Which records will stand the test of time? And which ones are fleeting successes, mere flashes in the pan? Here is one I’m pretty sure will be looked upon as a modern classic this week, this year and decades from now. What’s On TV?, the debut LP by Tee Vee Repairmann (aka Ishka Edmeades of Satanic Togas, Set-Top Box, Research Reactor Corp, Gee Tee, Remote etc.), truly has everything you desire from a classic punk/powerpop record.
Removing some shells from the quirky egg punk sound of Tee Vee Repairmann’s past EPs helps to make this the act’s most accessible and consistently awesome release yet. While What’s On Tv? would not have looked out of place in the late ’70s punk scene, this is still very much a Tee Vee Repairmann record with off-the-charts songwriting – hooks and licks come in the dozen with Edmeades. Songs like People (Everywhere I Go) and Checkout Queue sound like they could’ve been part of Exploding Hears’ Guitar Romantic. Meanwhile, early single Bus Stop takes powerpop to an exciting level and is song of the year material. I fully agree with Sims Hardin who described this LP as follows: “It’s early days but it would be a truly glorious year for music if this wasn’t in my top 5 records.”
What’s On Tv is out now through Total Punk (North America) and Computer Human Records (Australia).