"I hate neutron bombs and senior proms!" - The Briefs

When Anna Wilkie and I get around to remaking Rock 'n' Roll High School, the band we're going to use in lieu of the Ramones are Seattle's own punk pranksters the Briefs. They traffic in the speedy buzzsaw attack made famous by the Rezillos and the Zero Boys, and they're doing what they can to bring a sense of humor back to the scene. Between emo pansies, hardcore jocks, yindie (yuppie indie) dorks playing an updated version of Jackson Browne for people who own Ikea furniture, joyless zealots who play "experimental" music for equally joyless zealots, DIYers who think they can change the world by double-tracking an acoustic guitar and touring on bicycle, and any of the other lame sub genres of music that reek of, ugh, maturrrrrrrrity, things needed a kick in the ass. Don't worry, Conor; Spin thinks you're all growed up, even if you look like a malnourished 11-year-old that stumbled into his mom's make up.

There's just something I love about stuff that's unabashedly juvenile and snide. Yeah, it might not change the world, but someone really needed to sing a song about killing Bob Seger. Of the Briefs' four albums, three are gems. Hit After Hit, Sex Objects, and Steal Yer Heart are all crucial. While the band has gotten more melodic and given more ground to straight pop over time, they've retained their snotty attitude and slacker sense of humor. Not many bands could write a song about having a thing for one-night stands with the middle-aged set and pull it off without making it a one-note joke or grating on repeat listens.

Besides, it's nice to have a band taking the piss out of political music. A song called "Destroy the USA" has so much potential to be just another lame rant of some welfare malcontent, but it's instead a hilarious litany of all the things the singer hates about America (i.e. fast food, useless wars, himself, blue drinks, getting out of bed, straight edge kids, Jell-o molds, etc.) So many bands take themselves so seriously that one with a warped sense of humor is a breath of fresh air. Remember kids, rock 'n' roll is about getting fucked up and rocking out as hard as humanly possible. Everything else is just ephemera.

PS - If you dig this, start getting stoked for the new Ergs album, out in '07.

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/4440463/Briefs_Silver_Bullet.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/4462404/Briefs_Poor_Weird.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/4822909/Briefs_Orange_Alert.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/5471226/1_Briefs_Destroy_the_USA.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/5451391/Briefs_Forty_and_Above.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/2852926/Briefs_Criminal_Youth.mp3.html