Labels: Inner Ear
Review by: Samuel Rogers
Bazooka are an energetic garage-punk band from Greece. On tracks like “æԦûñúî (Filaki)”
[translation: “Prison”], you can hear the same kind of crazy surf guitar with which East Bay Ray
blessed the Dead Kennedys. Other tracks take a retro garage approach, while hints of 1960s
psychedelia creep in through the keyboard on tracks like “ÃËԡÔ° ÚÿԦÃÂñÃÆÔõï (Eho Kourasti)”
[translation: “I’m Tired”]. There’s even some ska guitar, complemented by the addition of a horn
section on two tracks. As you may have guessed, the lyrics are all in Greek, and they get slurred and
yelled in a languid punk drawl that contrasts nicely with the high-energy tunes. In addition to the
styles mentioned above, there are bits of rock and roll or proto-punk influence detectable too.
Although I liked the panache and the variety, for some reason the album didn’t completely click for
me. I wonder if a fifty-minute runtime is overdoing it, and Bazooka would be better releasing a
concise cut of their finest efforts. Nevertheless, I recommend checking out this release, where a
plethora of influences get jammed together into a pleasing and coherent pandemonium, resembling
the (International) Noise Conspiracy one minute, and something more far-out the next.