This Teeside quintet play garage rock exactly as it ought to be!
Sunderland-based Serial Bowl Records seem to be a real byword for quality these days. Recent releases of theirs to get the Punktuation thumbs-up include records from Diaz Brothers and Dealing With Damage, and now here comes the second album from Teeside garage rockers Onlooker. We originally saw them about three years ago in London, where they turned in a fierce, confrontational set, and judging by ‘Cleveland’, they haven’t mellowed out at all. Nor would we want them to.
They set out their stall on opener ‘Formula Tofu’, with fuzzed up guitars, grooves to get you moving, and frontman Will alternating between an almost spoken-word style and a feral scream. It’s raw, spiky, restless stuff, with plenty to love for fans of the likes of Aerial Salad, or perhaps even The Hives if they had a bit of extra northern English grit in the mix.
They press ahead with the straight-up punk blast of ‘Sit Tight’ and the addictive ‘Cuppa Tea’, which boasts the immortal chorus line ‘All I need is a cup of tea/To put me out of my misery’. We feel you, guys. Elsewhere, highlights include ’Carpool’, which is built around a seriously arresting bass line, and ‘Ben Slow Fast’, which kicks off with a slower, more melodic intro before bursting into a sprint. Great stuff all round, though.
There’s a surprise in store, in the form of the six and a half minute prog epic (by Onlooker’s standards, anyway) ‘Suburban Dreams’, which sees a change of pace at least three times, and keeps us guessing until the end. Then the closing ‘Status Quo’ further proves that the quintet can be just as effective when they ease up on the gas pedal.
Imagine if you took most of what passes for garage rock these days, and took it back to the bare essentials, with maximum passion and zero posturing; this is what Onlooker have done on ‘Cleveland’, and they’ve done it damn well. That said, these songs really need to be heard in the live setting, delivered in frantic, sweat-soaked glory. So keep up to date with future Onlooker gigs on the links below – you can thank us (and them!) later.
‘Cleveland’ is released on May 1st – pre-order the vinyl/CD/digital versions HERE.
- Formula Tofu
- Sit Tight
- Cuppa Tea
- Peaceful Protest
- Wishing Wellaye
- Carpool
- Disco Biscuits
- Ben Slow Fast
- Hookaduck
- Suburban Dreams
- Status Quo
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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