On paper the idea of three middle aged men playing what is described as “late 70′s British punk” conjures up the unfortunate image of wheezing postcard punks, their leather jackets creaking under the weight of U.K Subs patches and safety pins, lumbering around onstage playing out of tune Angelic Upstarts covers all night.
It’s somewhat of a relief to find that this is not the case as the only British punk influence that Greensboro, NC band The Raving Knaves take a nod from is mod punk such as The Jam. The rest of their sound seems to take from Bomp! Records style U.S power pop and unfortunately in the case of tracks such as “Mannaken Pis” and “Big Empty Detroit” an unnerving love of sweaty bar rock.
When you take into account all three members have day jobs and this obviously isn’t being taken too seriously (as in their priority is not inking a massive record deal) the idea of three friends one night a week leaving their wives, kids and the day to day grind of the 9-5, hooking up to blast through the punk rock’n'roll that they all obviously love so much has a certain charm too it. Unfortunately that charm does not last long and by the third song you soon tire of the cheesy pastiche of the aforementioned influences and the sometimes unbearably bad song titles (“flesh hound” – really??) and even worse lyrics, such as the embarrassing “Just Like England” with its frequent references to the “welfare factory”.
Clocking in at just under 30 minutes Atom Age is thankfully over quite soon and unless you want to subject yourself to repeated listens of cheesy Jam inspired karaoke you can turn it off and forget the whole thing ever happened.
The Raving Knaves, as a band, should be left in the rehearsal room and only allowed out on occasion to take part in a battle of the bands competition that happens every couple of months in some generic faceless sports bar somewhere deep in the Midwest between other bands made up of other middle aged guys with proper jobs living out their own teenage rock fantasies.
“The Atom Age” is harmless fun but really, who wants to listen to a record of middle aged men unwinding after work?!
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Check out the full stream below and you can buy Atom Age HERE
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Popularity: 33%
that sounds cool..get the barman to turn the lights off at the back of the bar so you can pretend that more than 12 people came…awww now I’m just being silly…7 people
You’ll be happy to know we covered The Jam a couple weeks ago as part of the local “Cover Band Explosion.” You would have loved it!
Are you a professional writer, Mr Reviewer? Because just your juvenile responses to these comments certainly take you out of the realm of professionalism. Serious critics do not respond with such childish comments (if at all) which is why Dave the Knave keeps saying you are just too easy. Perhaps you should take some tips from professional critics, like those at Slant Magazine, perhaps? And The Raving Knaves have quite a following in their hometown of people who disagree with your assessment of their music, as well as your inferences about their personal lives of which you know nothing. Hardly surprising that I cannot find another thing you’ve written as you are just a bad writer, no matter what review you gave this album. Using the word “cheesy” twice in the same review makes me think you should ask for a good thesaurus for Christmas. You can make whatever snarky little attempt to cut me down as well, but I am an editor for a professional (make sure you understand that) writer who is extensively published, and he doesn’t use the same “cheesy” adjectives twice in his reviews or interviews. Nor does he stoop to making personal insults about the artists actors and filmmakers whose work he reviews.
Serious musicians dont respond to a bad review with such childish petulance. I take it you are their female fan/manager/merch girl/cheerleader on Facebook who seems to hate me so much. Isn’t your husband a writer for slant?. See, your argument would have had much more gravitas if you hadn’t had to drop such a shameless plug for your man’s magazine during your rant. I kinda stopped reading and caring after that point. bad work lady…
“Serious musicians dont respond to a bad review with such childish petulance.”
Lewie, please tell me you see the irony in that statement, within the context of a punk rock website.
^^
You sound like Mr. Chips. Or Mr. French.
Who do you consider the best examples of punk today? I’ll give a listen, if I’m not familiar.
You do raise a fair point that the genre(?) has migrated a bit. I get the impression it’s treated more seriously than it was in the beginning.
Lewie, can we share any prize you get for having the most popular review of 2011? TWENTY-FOUR PERCENT!
You can infer whatever you like but I hold none of those titles you mention except fan. And I never said I hated you, but you seem to want to be hated, which I guess is pretty punk or more like emo. And please, don’t make assumptions about who I am, my relationship status,or what publication I might enjoy just because I mention it and why, because you might just be dead wrong. Again. So you didn’t like the Knaves. So what? People respond to critics they disagree with all the time. Seems like you are the one who can’t handle the criticism of your critique gracefully and professionally. I also read and follow Time out New York and the Onion AV Club just so you know what I’m reading, and The Village Voice. And The Guardian. So there’s some more shameless plugs for other publications.
Say what you will about the review, but Dave is acting extremely childish in his reaction to it. Since I am clearly the only one able to be objective in this situation, Lewis gave a pretty tough critique of almost exclusively the aesthetic and background of the band, and their singer responded like a pree-teen.