HIPSHAKES, THE:
Shake Their Hips: CD
Geography allowed me to be the first Yankee on the planet to own a vinyl copy of this release. I simply stopped by Slovenly HQ after work one day in January and picked it up. Been enjoying the hell out of it ever since. Ah, the benefits of living in Reno. Shake Their Hips is a blown-out, bash-you-in-the-eardrums punk fest recorded with the needles pinned in the red, which suits the music very well, indeed. “No No No No,” “Try Again,” and “I’m So Bored” are pulverizing, aggressive blasts of insanity that manage to stay tuneful and stuck on the brain for days on end. The Hipshakes slow the tempo down on “See Me Coming,” which grooves like a lost Velvet Underground tune with vocals spat wildly into the microphone. Killer covers of “Summertime Blues” and “Born to Lose” round out an album that is guaranteed to wind up on everyone’s year-end top ten list. –Josh Benke (Slovenly)