The Cute Lepers - Can't Stand Modern Music

Band: The Cute Lepers

Album: Can't Stand Modern Music

Genre: Punk

Label: Blackheart

Tracks:

1. Terminal Boredom
2. Cool City
3. The News Is Always The Same
4. It's Summertime, Baby
5. Prove It
6. Modern Pests

7. I'm [Out Of It]

8. Nervous Habits

9. So Screwed Up

10. The Day After The End Of The World

11. Opening Up

Cute Lepers? I haven’t watched Ben Hur in ages; I love lepers! So, the Cute Lepers really have nothing to do with Charlton Heston, but they are a pretty competent new-wave punk band. The group’s newest full-length release, entitled Can’t Stand Modern Music, is a stellar representation of the group’s new-punk (not nu-punk) sound. The Cute Lepers appear to be drawing a great deal of inspiration from the pioneers of punk, as do most punk bands, but instead of just being a Ramones or Clash rip-off, they have grabbed influence from many other great rockers, and created a unique punk sound that is very dissimilar to most of the other garbage-punk that is circulating today. For fans of new-wave rock and bands like: The Clash, Atom Ant, early Elvis Costello, Television, and Devo, Can’t Stand Modern Music could be a great addition to your record collection. 

Can’t Stand Modern Music, is an 11 track rock-fest, and in traditional punk styling, most of the songs are under three-minutes in length (except for “Prove It”). The songs are simplistic and straight to the point (what the hell is a pre-chorus). The album’s opening track, “Terminal Boredom,” is a catchy classic punk tune that sounds like the Ramones “Rockaway Beach” drum track mixed with Bo Diddley’s guitar riff from his often imitated song “Bo Diddley. There is a passionately apathetic delivery to the songs vocals that really instill the “boredom that the group is trying to convey.  The Musicianship on the song is also really top-notch, something that can be as rare in a punk band as steady camerawork from Michael J. Fox. 

Another Great tune on the album is the Costello-esque “Modern pests,” which is an instant geek-punk hit. If this song were dressed in clothing, it would be wearing a polyester suit, horn-rimmed glasses, and sporting a surf guitar around it’s neck. The rhythm is a close kin to Costello’s “Radio Radio,” but the Lepers infuse intelligently melodic lead guitar parts, and some surprising chord changes (at least compared to the Sex Pistols). “Modern Pests” is definitely one of the album’s strongest points, and may be reason enough to check out this album.

Unfortunately, there are a few tracks on this record that are really not up to par with the rest of the songs. “The New’s is Always the Same,” starts out strong with a catchy melody, but fails to impress. The track is quite repetitive, and may be a killer live track, but the studio recording is a lack-luster, pseudo-rockabilly attempt (even with inappropriate Fat’s Waller style staccato piano playing). “Nervous Habits,” is one of those songs you’ve heard a million times by your local Devo-influenced punk band, it’s not for any particular reason a bad song, it just doesn’t stick out at as a great song.   

Overall, the Cute Lepers have put out a bitchin’ new-wave album, the likes of I have yet to hear since the genre fell-out of the popular music spotlight. If you like smart-punk (oxymoronical?), or can’t stand modern music, you should probably check out Can’t Stand Modern Music. 

 

*Written By: Matthew Bullock*
GRADE: 7.33/10