Love Collector

What you get with Love Collector is pretty straightforward. Only a few seconds into “My Baby Goes Waaah!,” the titular track on this 7”, it’s clear that this is a band that plays punk-fused garage rock, with lots of guitar, a few pedals, and lots of attitude hovering around the two-minute-per song mark. It’s also the kind of rock where lyricism is a near non-factor. The lyrics tend to be insipid: a case in point being the titular song and excerpts like “I want to be her man / When she hits me with a frying pan / My baby she’s such a brat / I want to beat her with a baseball bat” It’s irreverent and fun, with the guitar hooks being the primary force. The lyrics are a little snotty and overdone, which somewhat detracts from the rollicking energy.

The B-side continues in like manner, with “Tell Me,” which channels The Hives, but runs the familiar sound through a wash cycle, distorted and sped up. Both of the b-sides are less cartoonish on the love subject, and it makes up an interesting single with the recurring thematic approach of songs about girls. All three are up-tempo, keep-your-foot-tapping songs that, while maintaining a very precise genre feel, also differentiate from one another in large part due to the choruses. There’s a formula to their songwriting, but can you really go wrong with short, loud, and fast?

7.4 / 10 — Loren