Skybombers - Take Me to Town
Record Label: Albert Productions / RED
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Remember the early 2000's? Just before MySpace Music gave every v-neck tank top wearer the chance to be a rock star, the music world was treated to what is now called the garage rock revival. This brief, but amazing, era of music saw the sound of 60's punk make it's mainstream debut with landmark albums such as White Blood Cells from The White Stripes and Is This It from the Strokes. Eight years later, The White Stripes have become more concerned with keyboards and side-projects while the Strokes have moved on to a much more indie sound. So where does that leave the garage rock movement? Bands like Skybombers are refusing to let it die and with their debut full-length, Take Me to Town, it's easy to see they may just be the next big stars of garage rock.
Already having achieved some success through tours with bands like X, Foo Fighters, and Jimmy Eat World, these Australian rockers are purists in every sense of the world. Whether singing angrily backed by standard loud/fast guitar rules ("On + On", "It Goes Off", "6AM", "Reason to Live") or dropping the distortion a little for a sad ballad ("My Morning's Gone", "If You Want to Be the One"), it's easy to hear that, aside from anything else, Skybombers are enjoying living life, with all it's bumps and bruises. Of course one could be quick to toss Skybombers off as just another quartet playing simple songs but, luckily, Take Me to Town throws in a few surprises to keep the listener interested. The Lennon-esque harmonies that pop up at different times throughout the record, coupled with the album's biggest surprise, an ode to some of the most famous Beatles and Stones girls ("Eleannor's Lullaby") show that Skybombers have a few more tricks up their sleeve than your next door neighbor's band.
Unfortunately for Skybombers, however, garage rock as a genre can become boring if not taken in small doses. Songs like "Teenage Dreams" and "1, 2, 4 to the Floor" are just as good as any song from the new Fratellis album, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Survival in garage rock is based solely on becoming, and remaining, unique in a genre whose sole rules are be as loud and as fast as you want. Skybombers have a done a great job with Take Me to Town and I have no doubt that they'll build upon the foundation they've set here. I, for one, am excitedly waiting for their next release.
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