On
Off the Charts
,
the Briefs
offer a plucky update of late-'70s
British punk
types like
the Undertones
and
the Rezillos
. It's all pointy elbows and spiky two-chord guitar lines here, and it's all undercut with a jokey, almost self-parodying air that almost makes it OK to sound this much like so many bands and still be pretty great. Highlights include
"We Americans"
("God bless the f*cked-up U.S.A.!" smarmy singer
Daniel J. Travanti
screams), the wiry, pipe-cleaning guitar action of
"22nd Century Man,"
and the irrepressible single
"(Looking Through) Gary Glitters Eyes,"
which subverts
the Adverts
and hams up the classic practice of U.S.
punk revivalists
singing in British accents by doing the same thing, only with purposely bad overcompensation.
The Briefs
are undoubtedly a load of live fun. And
is certainly an energetic, investment-free listen (there's only one song over three minutes, and that's the effortless
Attractions
-meets-
Supergrass
breeze of
"Tear It in Two,"
a surefire second single if there ever was one). Still, the album's dismissive quality is a bit nagging, because it suggests
don't actually care about their own music. Oh well.
The Adverts
didn't really care about theirs, either. [
Better Youth Organization
reissued the album in 2004, altering the track list a little bit toward the end of the album.] ~ Johnny Loftus