The Queers @ Chasers

You may think that the days of punk songs sounding just like those of The Ramones are over. Not so. The Qt up a bit, and throw in some surf-y sounds. That sound is packaged for digestion with fast-paced, two-minute songs. The New Hampshire-based band (note the irony: New Hampshire is possibly the least punk place on Earth) just released a new album titled Back to the Basement. Though most tracks on the record fit the time constraints described, there are a few that come in under the one-minute mark, thus taking the concept of hard and fast to a new level. The bands that The Queers model themselves after were the quintessential blending of the catchiness of pop, the grittiness of punk, and the geeky romanticism of love songs. Those bands also often had extraordinarily simple and repetitive lyrics. The Queers find a way to push that envelope, too. They have an entire song with the chorus, “I wanna tit-fuck you.” Eat your heart out, Joey. — Sarah Ventre