Tall Teenagers and Outlaw in Peru Reviews in the Latest Motif Magazine
Outlaw In Peru – OIP
This record has been kicking around for awhile but I popped it into my CD player the other day and it floored me. I don’t know when — or if — this band will ever play again, but that is part of the fun. They dress up in masks (because they are the Outlaw In Peru) and kick off a 10-minute stomper with fake crowd noise with “straight outta Little Compton…” where they name every town in Rhode Island except maybe Portsmouth and Arctic in “OIP Worldwide” with complete stadium bombast. They even make the point to let you know they are skipping Barrington because let’s face it, outside of that teddy bear store, it’s as gentrified as fuck. Outlaw In Peru understands that. It’s not all anthems for stadiums that don’t exist as “Profile in the Rock” rocks to some nirvana halfway between Motorhead and Thin Lizzy. “I Killed the Kennedys” rocks hard in a Grand Funk Railroad on amphetamines meets Body Count vein while offering up as much truth as the Warren Commission. You don’t have to wait for their next rodeo to hear them play. You can just go to 75orlessrecords.com to order and be the proud owner of this biscuit.
Tall Teenagers – Self-Titled
T-Rock used to always try to get me to listen to this late ’90s alt-rock band Verbena. They sounded like Surfa Rosa-era Pixies with songs that were just not as good. Surfa Rosa is in my top 50 all time records, so there is no shame when I liken Tall Teenagers to that record. I’ve never spent the time to appreciate Verbena till I saw Tall Teenagers and it struck me what they reminded me of. It is the same shtick with fuzzy loud guitars, mixed gender vocals and short twisty tunes. What I like about the Tall Teenagers is, for starters, it sounds phenomenal. Raw guitars whether they be foreboding on “Gone Gone Gone” or just driving through the morning madness of a new day rising on “I Get Awake.” “Thief In The House” jams along sounding like some mix of Crazy Horse Neil Young digging deep into a mix of grunge and gospel with no Gods in sight. “Home” has some surf licks and a driving back beat to carry you to safe harbor. The tension build-up in “Walking On A Street” just engages one to find out what is around the next corner. Speaking of corners, from their first show till I eventually saw them, people have raved about Tall Teenagers live. Being a fan of grungy guitars and short songs, I concur. That time I asked for my money back based on them not being particularly tall or close to being teenagers was strictly an aberration, possibly from inebriation.