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Dr. Boogie: Gotta Get Back To New York City

Imagine if Ducks Deluxe and the Ramones and, like, the Faces and Cheap Trick put on their tightest vests and reddest suspenders and wrote a bunch of songs about the redemptive powers of rock’n’roll and the seductive streets of New York City back when Johnny Thunders was still crawling around in them. That’s exactly what we’ve got on our hands with this Dr. Boogie album.

I don’t know how a bunch of skinny young scruffs from LA figured all this out, but they clearly graduated from Rock’n’ Roll High School with honours. Seems almost impossible that this wasn’t made in 1978, but here we are, and if this doesn’t send you dancing off to the record store and falling in love with Rod Stewart and Saturday nights and shiny white ankle boots, nothing will, and you should probably just give up on rock’n’roll completely. Gotta Get Back To New York City is a fantastic record. Worth it for the tambourine-shaking alone, really. (⁹⁄₁₀)

Indonesian Junk: Indonesian Junk

Milwaukee liver-abusers Indonesian Junk deliver a jukebox-ready collection of head-boppers and floor-shakers that positively reek of stale cigarette smoke, dirty denim and reckless good times. Remarkably poppy in spots, but in a good, late-70s, skinny tie, local power-pop sensation sorta way. But mostly it’s rubber-legged drunk’n’roll, served straight-up and puke-stained. (⁷⁄₁₀)

Furr: Furr EP

Not to be confused with the funky Kiss rip-offs from ’77, this Furr are a steely-eyed power-duo from Chicago, raised on busted lips and broken promises. Their music is tough n’ heavy cowbell-bangin’ Midwest rock’n’roll full of rust flakes and whiskey backwash, and they sound like they smash their guitars over people’s heads a lot. (⁶⁄₁₀)

Poison Heart: Strong Ties

Punk’n’rollers from Warsaw who sound remarkably like Scandinavian goathorners Gluecifer, which is to say this is a seriously manly dose of swaggering he-rock, full of acrobatic guitar solos, aggressive riff-o-rama, gangland choruses and a singer who says ‘motherfucker’ a lot. Your face will sprout a full Viking beard before the record’s even over. (⁷⁄₁₀)

Rebel Duck: Hard Rock City

Listen man, I know it’s not easy to take a band named Rebel Duck seriously – songs like Black Pumpkin and Snow White certainly don’t help matters - but these scrappy longhairs from Switzerland aren’t kidding around. Hard Rock City is stellar retro-flash metal with enough screaming guitars to keep 1987 alive forever. (⁶⁄₁₀)

Came from the sky like a 747. Classic Rock’s least-reputable byline-grabber since 2003. Several decades deep into the music industry. Got fired from an early incarnation of Anal C**t after one show. 30 years later, got fired from the New York Times after one week. Likes rock and hates everything else. Still believes in Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, against all better judgment.