Blood Vessels

(Teenage Heart)
by Hansel Merchor

It’s very important to have young labels like Massachusetts’s Teenage Heart dispensing quality, primal rock. Even if there are only a handful of us paying attention, even if we accidentally stumble upon their releases and that doesn’t amount to big numbers. Like their label, Blood Vessels hail from MA, and their raw, primal punk and roll promises and more than often delivers a solid punch to the nuts. The vocals are raw and streetwise in the sense that very little or no professional training seems to have gone into it. Which is how we like it, and it’s how ballsy punk and roll or rocking punk must be played.

The same can be said of the music: Starting with the tacit production job of the band and Mike Cunniff. They’ve left every glitch in the recording and have focused instead on girth and punch. The guitars sound alive, and though little attention has been paid to each instrument’s respective volume, the result is a fucking charm. Influenced by groundbreaking groups like The Stooges and the Bad Brains, this four-piece keeps it loose, and though melodic variations like the one found in “Hell Rocket,” hint at awesome potential.
(www.teenageheart.com)