What the fucking FUCK happened in February? I turn my back for five minutes and suddenly 2013 starts spewing out bitchin' new records like a tidal wave of platinum-plated WIN! I was expecting some pretty exciting discoveries as the year got properly underway but there have simply been too many to get my poor head round over the last couple of weeks - between smokin' new platters from Foals and Nick Cave, a return to form from Sweden's Cult of Luna that blew the hairs off my arse and the small matter of the first new My Bloody Valentine LP in over two decades I haven't been able to work out where to get started but the most logical place seems to be with the band I saw last night whose music is still ringing in my ears as I write this. FIDLAR are a bunch of irresponsible beach slackers from L.A. who play life-affirming slob punk and their self-titled debut LP is so good it's impossible to describe with anything other than a string of swearwords and guttural noises, so here goes : ShitfuckballsarsebagofshiteHEEEEEUUURRRGHHH!!!! If that isn't enough to convince you, let's just say that these guys crank out lo-fi punk hymns to the pleasures of drink, drugs and partying that succeed in their total simplicity where zillions of other bands trip up over their own art-school cleverness and navel-gazing Joy Division tributes. Their sound packs a recognisable hint of the Black Lips' 'Waaaaaah!' vocal tirades and shambolic punk racket but FIDLAR succeed as a pure party band where the Lips could often come across as conniving hipsters - better sonic points of references are perhaps the bezerk debut platters from Andrew W.K. and The 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster from a decade ago, both breakneck stampedes through the bonkers universe inhabited by their creators. FIDLAR's world basically revolves around inexpensive beer, low quality narcotics and a leisurely calendar split between surfing, skating and partying their collective arses off - not a bad gameplan you have to admit and one whose thrills and energy they've succeeded in capturing over thirteen tracks of squalling garage punk. Opener 'Cheap Beer' boasts the unbeatable chorus 'I Drink/Cheap Beer/So What?/Fuck You!' and they proceed to bang out anthem after anthem without slowing the pace or repeating their tricks - 'Stoned and Broke' sounds like Poison's 'Look What The Cat Dragged In' relocated to grot-punk modern-day L.A., 'Whore' is a refreshingly uplifting take on betrayal, 'Wake Bake Skate' is the sort of infectiously barbaric stuff that Cerebral Ballzy would have come up with if they had the talent and 'Max Can't Surf' turns their drummer's sporting ineptitude into a thing of rare beauty. This is all killer and absolutely no filler, the lads channel the most vital components of garage rock along with a hearty dose of their Cali punk heritage (they covered Fear's 'I don't care about you' and the Descendants' 'Suburban Homes' when I saw them last night) alongside older surf rock influences like the Trashmen resulting in a sun-soaked run of party anthems that will surely soundtrack the opening of beercans and the firing up of barbecues once the weather warms up. Live they were just as good as the record suggests if not better, it was heads down for total mayhem from the first note and I managed to lose my house keys in the moshpit (although fortunately I got them back later) as carnage reigned from beginning to end and the band thrashed through the entire record whilst actively encouraging people to join them on stage and piling into the crowd themselves for the final sweaty climax to their show. We came out comparing bruises and trying to retrieve the possessions we'd become separated from in the mix and there was a discernible feeling that we'd witnessed musical highs that would be difficult to top for the rest of the year. 'FIDLAR' is already my favourite record of 2013 and I greatly look forward to hearing anything that can come close to topping it.
Check out : 'Wake Bake Skate' - who knew the Grim Reaper was a Suicidal Tendencies fan?
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