Maybe I’m making this comparison because it’s so fresh in my mind. I just got a best-of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts CD for free and it was okay. Joan Jett can sing – it sometimes sounds like she’s having sex, smoking, and kicking ass at the same time when she sings, which is all right by me – but her backup band’s fucking awful. I guess it’s all played “well.” It’s all Guitar Center licks and no soul. And I guess I can comprehend why. Joan Jett’s voice is the centerpiece, and major labels do that – forefront the featured artist – but I still want to hear her backed by a punk band. Perfection is a death in and of itself. Man, the Triggers kick ass. They made me realize that, maybe even subliminally, when I was growing up – starting around thirteen – that there were elements to songs played on the radio that were pretty alright, but I’d fill it in with dirty guitars and screaming and puking and fuzz and distortion. And maybe that’s why I keep on listening to bands for almost twenty years straight that are new to me, to fill in that big radio station in my brain with more and more songs. The Triggers have a lady singing and it’s careening and warty punk rock accented by terrifying mustaches, alcoholism, pants shitting, and missing teeth. More great stuff from the Pacific Northwest. It’s like garage rock, where a van has crashed through the side of the garage, and nobody complains. Fans of the Orphans would find much to like with the Triggers.
–todd (Dirtnap)