Straight Arrows

Punk music, you took a terrible detour during the 90s, but I am learning to forgive you with your latest wave of lo-fi tunes. I'm not entirely sure how to explain the attraction of messy, mumbley, repetitive, wall-of-sound music like "Something Happens" from Straight Arrows' album It's Happening, but damn this music is lot of fun. It's unpretentious and catchy, and that makes for a winner in my books.It's Happening sounds like it was recorded in one take, in an attic, on a tape recorder, in the 60s. That's how lo-fi it is. I don't even know what they're singing about half the time because the vocals are so distorted, but hey, Straight Arrows aren't exactly about lyrical complexity or melodic intricacies.The band has been a bit quiet recently, probably because Straight Arrows guitarist and ex-Red Riders frontman Alex Griggs is off doing more commercially interesting things with Palms, who have been touring with Catcall. I still haven't seen Straight Arrows live though, and I get the feeling they'd be more in their element lurching around on a poorly lit stage than on disc, so I'm hoping they resurface soon.