The Loose Nuts – Oh God Help Our Fans – Review

The Loose Nuts

Oh God Help Our Fans (Gotham)
by Scott Hefflon

Ever get bummed cuz most ska bands are more concerned with convincing you they’re true to roots they aren’t nearly old enough to understand, and most skapunk bands, well, just plain suck? Cheer up, The Loose Nuts are here to rock your punk ass into a frenzy and impress you with some classy, frolicking horn lines. Unlike many a punk band trying to get with the times (um, which are now over and even The Gap stopped running those ads and has moved on) by grafting shallow horn sections onto their over-generalized rebel statements, the Loose Nuts seem to have maintained their vibrancy and vitality, blending punk paces, ska horns, and a vocalist who can sing quite well, but not too well, if you know what I mean. Their live shows are supposed to be insanely energetic (I know all press kits claim this and every shit band on the planet has to be seen live to be fully appreciated, but who has the time?), and for once I believe the hype. These guys (and a gal) love to play fast and hard, and you can tell. Another charming difference between The Loose Nuts and pretty much everyone else is their sense of humor. As in, they have one. They’re a fun band, kinda silly, and damn talented. Any questions? Oh, the bonus track tacked at the end of song eight is an instant classic: a kinda faltering guitar/voice duet of “Tomorrow” – yeah, the theme from Annie, as in “The sun’ll come out…” – which leads into a rampaging punk version which’ll simply blow you away. I’ve never heard this song covered (and punk bands do have a tendency to cover anything they can find) and no one will ever cover it again without falling shy of this high watermark. Congrats, kids. It’s a keeper.
(P.O. Box 809 Venice, CA 90294)