Straight Arrows Something Happens

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.