This site had a bit of a mishap happen to it, and with a lack of foresight and technical savvy, it meant that we lost pretty much everything until I got around to digging it out of The Internet Wayback Machine. Then, when I was in the middle of that project I noticed that I started doing these First Listen, First Thoughts reviews almost exactly a year ago. What better time to start it up again?

For those of you unfamiliar with the process, I ask for people to suggest songs to me from bands I’ve never heard before. Based on the band name, song title, and sometimes the album cover, I offer my best guess as to what it sounds like before I hear the first note.

What you see below is my real time review of this song…

Artist: Police Teeth
Song: Summertime Bruise
Album: Awesomer than the Devil
Recommended by: Ben Miller on Twitter @bmmsben

Who it sounds like before I listen to the first note:

The Dead Kennedys: The Dead Kennedys had a song called “Police Truck” on the album Give Me Conveience or Give Me Death. The same album also had a song called “A Child and His Lawnmower” on it, and that reminds me of summer, couple that with the cover of “I Fought the Law” and I get the bruise part of it. Lastly, “I Fought the Law” reminds me of the old Eddie Cochran song, “Summertime Blues,” which has nothing to do with anything, except that my brain made the connection. So, “Summertime Bruise” is going to be a snotty, punk rock take on the old classic. Maybe.

The Police: Or maybe this is going to be some three-piece prog rock song that goes on for fifteen minutes with really elaborate song structure including six different time signature changes, technically proficient musicianship, and the feeling that it took six months and 48 tracks to get things just perfect according to the band.

A Grunge Band that Never Got Signed: I’m recycling material with this one, but in an earlier review I talked about how Beavis and Butthead had a book and in that book was a guide to naming a grunge band and it had a Column A and a Column B filled with words and the idea that was you could pick any two words and get a cool sounding band name even if you weren’t a cool sounding band. If that’s the case here, I’m going to go with really plodding rock with semi-angsty lyrics about a girl and maybe the girl hurt the singer’s heart during some torrid summer affair and left his heart with a “Summertime Bruise.” Then all of the chicks who show up at their live shows are all like, “Oh, poor Rockin’ Ronnie, I’d never do you wrong like that!” and the night would end sloppily and with regret in the back of a Camaro.

I’m shutting of Neurosis so we can get to the bottom of this mystery. Let’s go!

:04 This starts big. A little squeal of feedback. Pounding drums. Uptempo. I’m reminded of The Thermals’ song “Our Trip.” We’re off to a good start.

:15 Definitely nodding along to this. I bet this is a lot of fun live. It’s the kind of song you’d play to start a show.

:26 The bass is really high in the mix. That part of it kinda reminds me of early Green Day. It’s sonically much more solid than the Dead Kennedys, but of the three choices I laid out, that’s by far the closest.

:32 I’m unsure if the singer has a foreign accent or if it’s just the way he sings. It fits well with the music.

1:08 I wouldn’t call it a guitar solo or anything, but there is a little guitar emphasis part here.

1:27 With the harmony there, I’m, in a way, reminded of The Clash.

1:42 This is a satisfying wall of sound. Not as fast as I guessed it would be.

2:05 If you know and like the band Seaweed, you might dig this. I could see them being cousins.

2:38 The song is drawing to a close. Efficient. Tight. Straight ahead rock n’ roll that feels influenced by some late 80s, early 90s alternative.

Final thoughts:

I definitely struck out on the Police part. Way far away from that. There might be some marriage here between the Dead Kennedys and a grunge band, but there weren’t any sappy lyrics like I guessed about broken hearts. If I was on a roadtrip and somebody put this in the cd player, I wouldn’t have any complaints.

I’m a little surprised at the lack of political message in the lyrics that I caught with a band name like Police Teeth, but it’s one song, maybe the rest of the album is Anti Flag influenced.

My review done, I checked out the album cover. It’s visually appealing with a toy Jesus and Darth Maul (if he was a luchador) hanging out on what I guess is the dashboard of a car (perhaps going on a roadtrip).

Listen for yourself below: