Review #132: Sourpuss Los Angeles - I Don't Care (2010)

I DON'T CARE

Year: 2010

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Hardcore
Label: Peepshow Records
Tracks: 9
Length: 26 Minutes
Style: Emotional/Dark
My Rating: 7/8

Sourpuss was a punk band from Los Angeles that around the late '90s and early '00s (no, not the 1900s). The band consisted of Valentina Knox (vocals and bass), Melissa Knox (guitar), and Leo Bocci (drums). The band played shows around Los Angeles for several years, recorded a demo (which was given out at these shows), and disbanded not too long afterwards. Well, some time passed, and because there was a band in the mid-'90s ALSO called "Sourpuss", which played a similar style of music and was fronted by a young Brody Dalle (her last name wasn't "Dalle" or "Armstrong" at this point, though), who later went on to form the Distillers (and now she performs in Spinnerette). Well, people eventually started posting up a bootleg of a fake "Sourpuss" album -- some of the tracks were from the Australian Sourpuss, and some of the tracks were from the Los Angeles Sourpuss. So, those of us who never saw either of those bands and knew relatively little about them went on thinking that this was all the same band. The Los Angeles Sourpuss finally showed up, proclaiming that they were a different band. They posted to the internet a bunch of other songs that we hadn't heard before -- they were awesome! Last month the band finally officially released what was their studio demo as an album. It's called "I Don't Care", and the band usually refers to itself as "Sourpuss Los Angeles" to distinguish themselves from the other bands called Sourpuss. Anyways, the songs here are really good, so now I shall review them. Sound good?

1. Anguish
The guitar here sounds awesome. In the verse it sounds cleaner and calmer, and it the chorus section it's more distorted and aggressive. Great harmonizing vocals (one of the best aspects of Sourpuss's music). There's a bridge-section with a guitar solo. The lyrics are about a girl who's pissed off and annoyed by a controlling and dickish boy. It's one of the faster songs on the album.

2. Holiday
One of my favorite songs on the album. It's fast and happy (to me, at least). The guitars and the riff are awesome and so are the vocals. Energetic and calm in all the right places. Unfortunately, it's way shorter than it should have been.

3. Pins & Needles
A slower song with a slight heavy metal edge. The chorus fucking rules. Here, Valentina's vocals are more aggressive and darker-sounding. In the part where she screams "DEADLINE PRESSURE", you can hear Melissa in the background going pitches up and down. I think the lyrics are supposed to be about heroin or something like that. A very cool song.

4. Regret
Similar tempo to the song before it, but not quite as heavy. There's a part in the chorus that Melissa gets to sing -- it's a nice touch of variety. There's a messy guitar solo in the bridge part of the song.

5. Last Party
Another one of my favorite songs. The verse is more relaxed and less abrasive. I just love the general vibe and feel from this one. Reminds me of staying up really late in the Summer and doing absolutely nothing of importance. The chorus is more noisy and angry, adding a darker edge to the song. The drums are making this little ching-a-ching-a-ching noise constantly throughout the song. It sounds cool.

6. I Don't Care
The title track! YAEY. This one's main melody places more emphasis on the bass guitar, but the other guitar's doing it's own things in the foreground. The tone of this one is pretty pessimistic (like the title suggests). The chorus section is pretty awesome, bringing forth the energy pent up from the quieter verse parts. The bridge section before the final chorus is the best part of the song -- it has the best riff.

7. Planet Gum
Uhh... Planet Gum. The Planet of Gum. Where everything is made of gum. Chewing gum, gum arabic, gum basin, just guess. As long as it has "gum" in the name it probably exists on Planet Gum. This is a short hardcore song. There's fast parts inter-spliced with slow parts.

8. Testosterone
This song's about testosterone and estrogen and shit like that. Apparently Valentina has plenty of estrogen. I would have never guessed that! You learn something every day, don't you? I don't know if this iz the obligatory love/sex-themed song or if it's just literally Valentina wanting to point out the fact that she has a lot of estrogen and the listener (regardless of gender) has testosterone. Kool. Anyways, it's a good song. I like the verse riff. The guitar sounds cool. Dirtier in the chorus.

9. Dark Circles
This one reminds me so much of the Melvins. In a good way. With the heavy, slow tempo and the quirky little breaks inbetween. It's a great song. The lyrics are once again probably about a person with a heroin addiction ("those big dark circles that you just can't hide..."). There's a faster, more upbeat part at the very end that is actually directly taken from a section of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath! And now we're at the very end of the album. So now it's all over. The world of Sourpuss is all over. We finished the last track. NOOOOOO!!!!!!

Two of the band's influences are the Melvins and Hole. That's what Sourpuss reminds me of. A combination of the Melvins and Hole. Like, if you had Courtney Love singing for the Melvins in the early '90s, it would sound a lot like Sourpuss. Which is a compliment, by the way! Anyways, if this stuff sounds interesting to you, you can buy the CD from Amazon.com or iTunes. It's a real shame they didn't do more, though... this band had a potential to be great. I'll bet there was still a bunch of great music they could have made if they wanted. Maybe someday they will reform. Maybe not. I dunno. But anyways, at least they ended while they were still fresh. So, yes, I strongly recommend Sourpuss to the rock n' roll fan.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Holiday
2. Last Party
3. Pins & Needles