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"Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? Yes? Okay, keep reading. Remember that time Robert Quine and Cheetah Chrome hung out at Max's for two days subsisting on chilled rye whiskey only to realize they were the same person? The long lost romance of that epoch we all still idolize and (sorta) think about. A smoke-filled bar on the east side of whatever city you want. When the best thinkers are completely impoverished for their mere habits of existence, we forge that new wild west. And these guys are there. Steeped in the past, this band has no future. Get me? Do you still listen to The Clash? Me too. This Tucson, AZ act is a couple of jerks who just can't kick R ("Rock" music) even though it may have ruined their lives a couple two-tree times. As a recovering addict I can't talk to them about it. RA is basically a hook-up club so I won't recommend that either, unless their kink is that sad brand of insanity. Which it is... oops. This tape is full of Anglo-Saxon guitar subscribing to the pastoral tradition of English-speaking men. That's not a good angle in 2022 so let's hope we use our ears to assimilate this information with a dollop of Pacific sea salt, huh? If you know these mamma jammas personally you know the degree of autistry happening: perfectly crafted Rock music from the network, scraping West Coast Pop Art Dandruff, Big Star pseudo-memories and first-wave North Coast punk melodies into the same doggy bag for later (10 years from now or something). It's beautiful. I guess if this blurb is supposed to sell copies I could mention Rik & the Pigs, Brown Sugar, The New York Dolls, Powell Skateboards, Black Label Beer, mid-period Fleetwood Mac, Peter Laughner, Levi 511s, NASA, MRR and the passions we've left behind. But I won't. FFO: Adderall, America's expiration, the great outdoors." -Brandon Gaffney
Our take: Concrete info on Class is scarce at the moment, but from what I understand, the band is based in Tucson, Arizona, and features the vocalist from Rik & the Pigs. With that last Rik & the Pigs record fresh in my memory, I was looking forward to this, but it turned out to be very different from what I expected. Compared to the Pigs’ snot and swagger, Class sounds buttoned up, or at least they’re not laying bare their status as total degenerates. Their music is way poppier, and they’re fucking good at writing and playing pop music. Every song is great, and each one seems like its own little world. “Steady Hands” has the golden hour shimmer of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, and “Into the Night” channels the Flamin’ Groovies’ “Shake Some Action,” while “Wrong Side of Town” could be an outtake from the Dictators’ Blood Brothers. Class makes sense on the same label as the Cowboys, who also seem into classic songwriting, wrapping their carefully constructed pop nuggets in a distinctive cocktail of lo-fi aesthetics and 60s-garage-style workmanlike professionalism. Which is a long way of saying this tape contains five infectious power-pop tunes that maintain Feel It’s status as the label with the golden ears.
Our take: Concrete info on Class is scarce at the moment, but from what I understand, the band is based in Tucson, Arizona, and features the vocalist from Rik & the Pigs. With that last Rik & the Pigs record fresh in my memory, I was looking forward to this, but it turned out to be very different from what I expected. Compared to the Pigs’ snot and swagger, Class sounds buttoned up, or at least they’re not laying bare their status as total degenerates. Their music is way poppier, and they’re fucking good at writing and playing pop music. Every song is great, and each one seems like its own little world. “Steady Hands” has the golden hour shimmer of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, and “Into the Night” channels the Flamin’ Groovies’ “Shake Some Action,” while “Wrong Side of Town” could be an outtake from the Dictators’ Blood Brothers. Class makes sense on the same label as the Cowboys, who also seem into classic songwriting, wrapping their carefully constructed pop nuggets in a distinctive cocktail of lo-fi aesthetics and 60s-garage-style workmanlike professionalism. Which is a long way of saying this tape contains five infectious power-pop tunes that maintain Feel It’s status as the label with the golden ears.