Is it a hit, *hit or miss?
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Cauterize
- So Far From Real
by Tim Byrnes
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Cauterize
- So Far From Real
Label: Wind
Up Records
Rating: 
Love
Stinks and Rocks and Rolls Forever
Back in the Summer of Hate (1977) when
the Ramones wanted to be sedated and the Pistols were destroying rock and
roll with their amplified venom and it looked like the cutting edge of
whatever calls itself rock and roll was hell-bent on obliterating all feeling,
there was a little band called the Shoes who, while labeled as punk by
the music press, played and sang pristine pop tunes about the triumphs
and travails of young love. With their debut album So Far From Real, Canadian
punk-pop band Cauterize pick up the torch for all young lovers having a
bad (Green) day. The Shoes, and bands like them, often time catch flack
from the more serious' among us (my punk rock can beat up your punk rock
nonsense) for shying away from any political stance and sleeping with
the enemy' by continuing to sing about broken hearts as opposed to broken
bones.
The songs on this CD all, in one way or
another, speak from the bottom of a broken, but not yet black, heart. They
say that the personal is political, and I guess there's nothing more personal
than a broken heart, so this CD and it's direct address of a failed relationship
careening along at Mach 112 is more political' than any would be revolutionary
spouting slogans from a tour bus.
This CD is like an anarchy beach party,
all clanging guitars rushing headlong into tight power-pop harmonies, rollerball
drums and impressive, melodic bass lines. There's more to this band than
meets the ear at first. Of course they sound much like the Blinks and the
Sums and all of Billie Joe's illegitimates (and, again, it's all the Buzzcocks,
baby and that ain't a bad thing at all), I think by now that we'd all accept
this form as a legitimate influence and, besides, nobody get's into this
to starve. But Cauterize expand the template with curve ball quirks in
their arrangements and a lyrical bent that, while bitter and somewhat
snotty, mostly transcends the banal locker room humor of the bands mentioned
above.
My favorite verse, from My Everything'
goes as follows:
..... How's your hand?
My eyes have healed nicely.
How's the time pass by
Without me?
I hope this hurts like hell
cause why should you be fine?"
Direct. Honest. Brutal. The personal made
political made punk rock. Radio friendly and with a hyper-relatable subject
matter, So Far From Real should be a hit, deserves to be a hit. No, it's
not gonna save the world (I fear were too far gone for anything to save
the world, but, I digress) but Cauterize at least give us a cool CD to
dance to as it burns, which is more than I can say for many. Good rockin'
tonight from Cauterize, 4 good men who deserve 4 good women (I guess).
CD Info and Links
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