Sweatmaster

Tom Tom Bullet (Bad Afro)
By Craig Regala

I’ve always had a strong (and manly) taste for the bubblegum side of the Talking Heads/garage hump/early Who/Stranglers thing. If you can wrap your skinny (or copious) ass around the boppier aspect of The White Stripes and the last couple Hives records, come on in. I hear shades of Devo’s “Mongoloid” single, Neu’s sunny proto-electro-into-ziprock cool, late ’70s “new wave” from the USA, and the amazing two-note groove of The Camaro’s, as well as all sorts a well-disciplined big beat fun time hand-clapping from 50 years of rock and roll.

Check “The Evolution Never Came This Way” for the band’s ability to be very rock and roll and still use a slightly off-kilter rhythmic march that’d be comfortable on the new Queens of the Stone Age platter. So, hop on the boat to Finland ’cause I don’t know if they’re leavin’ Northern Europe any time soon. Tom Tom Bullet comes with a video for the title cut off the last record. I like that disc, too. The covers of the Misfits, Modern Lovers, Money Mark, Talk Talk, Minor Threat, and The Wipers indicate a good framework underpinning this new(ish) direction.
(www.badafro.dk)