Looker, a pop-punk group from NYC, fall right into the similar stylings of Breeders, Cake Like, and a few other female-fronted pop-punk groups I listened to back in middle school. Back then, I was a little punk rocker with piller box red-dyed hair, babydoll bangs, white t-shirts with band names written in sharpie marker, worn out jeans, and green converse sneakers. I collected every girl pop-punk group I could get my hands on, including Bratmobile, Yum Yum Tree, The PeeChees, Sleeter-Kinney, L7, Luna Chicks, and Babes in Toyland. Also, my favorite movie was Alex Sichel's "
All Over Me."
With that said, I hope such background gives a good picture of how this album sounds. Girls' voices + pop + punk = nostalgia in so many shaps and sizes. Honestly, Looker didn't win me over right away. I heard the first song, "Serenade Stare," and had to switch to the second track right away. That track, "Born Too Late 1978," was better than the first. So I listened on... The next song, "Hey Kids," was not my fav, but Im a sucker for the droning, melodic sounds of female voices in unison so I continued to listen. In general, the songs I prefer from
Born Too Late are most definitely (in order!) "Radio," "Last Man," "To the Finish," "One Way Screen," and "Tickle My Spine."
Im looking forward to seeing these ladies live in NYC soon. Thanks for the flash back,
Looker! I think I still have my homemade band t-shirts at home that I might pull out of the storage trunks! Although I wonder if anyone outside of Connecticut would understand why I made one with a huge spatula on it...
- Amylu Meneses