Cheap Time / Bad Sports – split 7” (Scion A/V)

The last Cheap Time single I picked up was sounding a little ropey, and Jeffrey Novak’s solo album was a flat out nightmare, so it’s reassuring to hear CT returning here to the straight up blast of their self-titled record with “Proper Introductions (Running Nowhere)”, two minutes and forty four delightful seconds of sneering, ribald Chilton-esque pop about how unexpectedly running into old acquaintances at the supermarket really sucks. It’s great. A post on Raven Sings The Blues today informs me that a press release for Cheap Time’s second LP promises it “..will surely surprise, divide and leave fans scratching their heads as to where Cheap Time will go next!" Hmm, we’ll see how that works out.

Bad Sports of Denton, TX are a new one on me, but they too really do the business with a thoroughly swell bit of lean, muscular power-pop. Production is loud and rough, as it should be, but both song-writing and playing suggest so much hard graft it’s almost uncool. I mean, they even break the three minute barrier. RIYL The Nerves EP, The Last, Buzzcocks, Zeros. Also recommended if you’ve never heard of any of that crap, and just want a really cool rock song to blast when you’re cruising around with the car windows down. Which I suppose would mean you’d have to install a turntable in your car, but I THINK YOU SHOULD DO THAT. Or just buy the mp3s like I did and burn them on a CD. Cos face it, that Blue Oyster Cult tape in the glove compartment is getting you no action whatsoever – give it to me, and get this.

Oddly, talk of vinyl in the above paragraph is probably slightly off the mark, because although it does exist, this single is put out principally via digital means by some weird internet company whose website plays wanky car advert electronica at you incessantly. “Scion continues to promote the finest in emerging music talent by partnering with today's most progressive artists and labels on its Garage 7-inch series to produce exclusive music”, they say. “Pick up a copy on vinyl at your local Scion event or listen now right here!!”

They’ve done stuff with The Oblivians, Jacuzzi Boys, Dirtbombs, Pierced Arrows et al and they even do an annual festival in Lawrence, Kansas, but I mean, HUH? Vague, corporate-voiced online media companies? Garage-punk? It all makes me rather apprehensive.

http://www.myspace.com/cheaptime
http://www.myspace.com/badsportsband
http://www.scionav.com/index.html

Labels: Bad Sports, Cheap Time, singles reviews