The Heartdrops/The Spills
(Stiff Pole)
by Jon Sarre
That Johnny Thunders was sure influential. Too bad he’s dead. He could be makin’ guitar instructional videos, then more bands like the Spills and the Heartdrops could punkify their post-Let It Be Replacements sound. The Spills possibly intended to even homage Thunders’ old band, but screwed up somewhere and covered a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song instead (“Need to Know,” if yer takin’ score). I’d say that the Heartdrops were giving the Dragons a shout-out on their closing number, “Come on Strong,” but then I realized that the producer was Dean Rispler. That’s just the “Dean Ripsler Backdrop From the First Ramones Record Wall Of Sound.”
