There’s a reason why Smith Westerns have been gathering steam recently, and that’s because they do what great young bands should do, breathing life into the clichés of three-chord rock’n’roll. Barely out of high school, they inhabit a universe of naïve crushes and wearing the right clothes to get the girl, superficial, perhaps, but on the other hand, totally primal motivators for forming a band in the first place. What really works for these guys is that they believe. They believe in the potency of the Ramones and Marc Bolan, and that rock is essentially about being young. There’s an exuberance here that comes with their lo-fi production and femme-y vocals that makes this one of the most fun releases of the year.
(Our current stock is limited to the copies we picked up at their recent Silver Dollar show here in Toronto, so don’t waste time if you're curious, since we don’t know when [or if!] we’ll be getting any more in.)