Ever since I heard their single “Cocaine” I thought to myself that maybe the kids were onto something, but I would just have to wait and see. Lo and behold FIDLAR’s first full length fell into my lap to review and I couldn’t be happier. This album has so much energy and youthful exuberance that you can’t help but want to jump around the room when you hear it.
The album slaps you in the face with the opening track and lead single “Cheap Beer,” a short and sweet song that made me pine for being 21 again. With its mantra of “I drink cheap beer, so what, fuck you” you know immediately what kind of band you are dealing with. Nothing complicated but good straight songs with a surf twinge, punk rock speed, garage band ethos, and a middle finger to the world.
It doesn’t stop there. The hits keep coming right square in the middle of your face with “White on White” and “Stoked and Broke”. They meander a little in the middle of the album with a couple of songs like “No Waves” and “Blackout Stout” that are little too reminiscent of the San Diego band WAVVES. Which isn’t itself a bad thing, just that they don’t need to borrow from anybody else’s sound. What they have is already really great.
With song titles like “Wake Bake and Skate” “5 to 9” and “Paycheck” you get the distinct feeling that these guys don’t have any big worries in the world, and I find that refreshing. It’s tiresome to hear the same folk rock love ballads plague the current crop of young bands coming out right now, and in juxtaposition these guys just want to get out and have a good f**king time.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the previously mentioned single “Cocaine.” Sounding like it was re-mastered into a superior version of the original, it closes the album with a huge bang. If I were 19 or 23 this band would be the soundtrack to my life; as it stands I will just listen and live vicariously through their music and be reminded of parties past.
FIDLAR's self-titled album is out now on Mom & Pop Records. FIDLAR play a sold out show at The Echo (Los Angeles) March 20, 2013.
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