Portland, the weird one, not the pretty one in Maine, is known for a
lot of things, but buzzing indie/post punk isn’t always one of them. Heck, what
do I know – Portland is probably known for that too, but guess what? I’m not
going to bother to check. Because the less I think about Portland the better.
I’ve seen enough of Portlandia and
heard enough accounts of friends who have lived there to knock it down a spot
or hundred on my list of places I really need to visit. Sure it’s got trees and
stuff, and the Pacific Northwest is gorgeous, but I don’t think I’d be able to
handle the townsfolk for more than a few seconds. Really, though, I know
slightly more than nothing about it. I’ll leave it there.
Bobby Peru, a band presumably
named after this fuggin guy, is from Portland. The weird one. They combine
the snottiness of the Sex Pistols with the bravado of Nirvana, yet sound a bit
like a Jon Reis-fronted Drive Like Jehu. And that sounds …. Whaaaaaaa? Did I
just type that? Those are some pretty hefty names to draw inspiration from. OK.
The spirit is there. Do you like how that description makes you feel, how it
makes you long for the bygone days of tape trading via the mail rather than
quickly dropboxing MP3s? Well you’re in luck. These six songs shred, briefly
burning with intensity before flaring out. And I’m not usually a guy who takes
to modern indie punk anymore. I’m an old stick-in-the-mud who likes
“experimental” and “electronic” and “ambient” and “synthesizer” artists. These
kids have kicked me in the patoot today.
These kids. God, what am I, like fifty? Anyway, these kids are brash,
and fun, and they don’t overstay their welcome. Their songs are meant to cause
a reaction, to rile you up a little bit. The titles can be fun, like “Triple 6”
and “(I Wanna Be a) White Collar Criminal,” but more often they’re content to
seethe beneath their Pac-NW urban ennui. Like, let’s all be sick of everything
together, but hey, we can’t do anything but play music, so here’s some cheap
beer and a PA system and bring your friends because it’s gonna be a great time.
That’s the Bobby Peru spirit.
So whatevs. The tape itself is blank pink, the cover black and white
with a photocopied-zine font. Looks great. No idea how to get your hands on it
though. Maybe someone from the band can comment on it here. Check out the
bandcamp in the meantime.
--Ryan Masteller