Epperley

Sophomore Slump (Triple X)
by Jamie Kiffel

Catchy electro slides, simple one-two drums, and indie rock girlfriend complaints (singer Dave Terry’s girl brags about “wearing the Vans that Pavement sent;” he gripes on another track, “It’s something I hate: You’re so 1988”) draw pop and playful punk attitude together. Terry strains his Marlboro-mellowed “whoa whoa”s over happy, shake-it-up summer guitars and enthusiastic cymbal crashes. Lyric nods to My Blue Heaven and Guided By Voices give a strong Generation X Taco Bell and Slurpee stain flavor to this sunshine shoutfest, which is true to its title pledge of sophomoric brain freeze, jaded by gender-bending classroom distractions such as “the one with the prettiest haircut; it’s like a guy/She’s the butch girl… I want to take her out.” Expect no more polish from Epperley than from a Dixie cup keg party with Bud Ice on tap and lyrics that repeat like the same chicks who’ve been sleeping on the common room sofa since last Saturday. Turn it up loud, chug fast, and fuzz into the banality of bottom-of-the-bottle booze and need-a-kickstand-or-I-can’t-stand kegstand youth.
(PO Box 862529 Los Angeles, CA 90086)