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There’s two things you could infer from a band who calls themselves the “Beatniks”: that they either do a shitload of drugs, or just get high off of their own simplistic, contrastingly-impactful proto-punk sounds – even as a mere listener, exposing yourself to this marled sprawl of regurgitated rock and roll riffage can quickly prove to be intoxicating, if not lethal. With metallic whirls, squeals, and screeches complimenting the generally downbeat garage anthems, the temper the Beatniks’ exhibit in this four-track record is shorter than the end of the stick they were given at birth; their musicality is palpably snide and ridden with angst, contributing to the shades of contempt and catharsis their rudimentary sounds will surely fill you with. “KBD” is a descriptor that often gets thrown around when translating a band’s sounds into words, implying that they seem as if they were appropriated from another era: Oakland’s Beatniks – featuring members of esteemed acts such as The World, Andy Human & the Reptoids, Life Stinks, and Violent Change – may as well be the epitome of that.
NOTE: There are 3 different color sleeves for this release. You may end up receiving anyone one them. No requests, sorry!
Our take: So, the main conclusion that I’m drawing from listening to this Beatniks 7” on the great Neck Chop label is that there is a time machine hidden somewhere in Fullerton, California. There is simply no other explanation for how the Beatniks are able to make proto-punk music that is this authentic. Seriously, these tracks could be dropped into the middle of one of those Rocket from the Tombs collection CDs and I doubt that anyone would notice. Basically, Beatniks sound like punk before it was called punk… this is rock and roll, but it doesn’t sound like it was particularly influenced punk at all, but rather it’s just rock and roll delivered with maximum energy and rawness. You could compare them to any number of bands… Rocket from the Tombs, the Electric Eels, Crime, the Pagans… raw and visceral rock and roll like this will never go out of style, and it’s because bands like the Beatniks still sound as fresh as the day the genre was born. Highly recommended.