The Queers

Munki Brain (Asian Man)
by Ewan Wadharmi

I believe I’ve insisted many times that the Ramones were the Beach Boys of punk. Well, I have, and they were. After 20 years, it’s time we admit that by using if-then logic, it follows that the Jan & Dean of punk has got to be The Queers. Even though they have a song titled “Brian Wilson,” they’ll always be the softer, younger brother of surf punk. They’ve got shobby-doo-wops, for God’s sake. Joe Queer’s lazy surfer dude delivery and slo-mo pacing had me skipping through song after song. But then relief came with the uber-innocent “I Think She’s Starting To Like Me.” Suddenly, we have the Beatles punk (has that been done?), a sweet sentiment cleverly arranged with harpsichordy piano and believable lyrics. “I just love her witty repartee/it’s so nice/if she invites me out for burgers I won’t think twice.” The Queers completely take the piss out of the tunes that Ben Weasel and Helen Love provide. But they come back with the scorcher “Whatever Happened To Philthy Phil?,” a tribute either to NOFX or the brotherly loving DJ or both. There’s no love for GW Bush on the second-most venomous song, “Monkey In A Suit,” which parlays all those Bushisms you can find on the Internet into a taunting rant. The closer, the aforementioned “Brian Wilson,” solidifies my argument that Queer should eliminate the punk from his pop. The indie-sounding ballad is gentle and touching, with sparse, folky instrumentation. Go with that, Joe, and leave the punk to the rockers.
(www.asianmanrecords.com)