Something Fierce signs to Dirtnap
One of our very favorite up and coming young bands, Houston, TX’s Something Fierce has officially joined the Dirtnap roster.
The original plan was to release a new album in early 2010, but we decided we just couldn’t wait that long to sink our claws into the band.
So we’re psyched to announce that the next Dirtnap release is gonna be a vinyl-only reissue of their new, self-released CD, There Are No Answers.
Look for it in May, followed by some touring this summer. The band will then begin preparations for their proper Dirtnap debut LP/CD, which I can pretty much guarantee is gonna blow your mind.
What do they sound like, you ask? Here’s a couple reviews of There Are No Answers that say it better than I can:
MAXIMUM ROCK N’ ROLL:
Houston’s best little secret, which like all the other nuggets of gold currently come out of Texas should should be public domain. This is a gem of a record from start to finish – an adrenaline rush of hooks, choruses, and some of the cleverest pop writing since those BUZZCOCKS fellas picked up their guitars. It’s got that MARKED MEN X-factor, that UK ’79 buzz, and a fine indie sensibility that reminds me a hell of a lot of THE PIXIES. This is one of those special records that just grows and grows with every listen till you’re head-over-heels in love with it. They’re coming to my town in two weeks and I’ve already booked a day off work, and got my drinking exercise routine in full effect – now all I gotta do is bring this record home, learn all the words, and get my dance moves polished to perfection. A brilliant record by a brilliant band (SD)
RAZORCAKE:
“Teenage Ruins” is a perfect song. Something Fierce take a great hook and beat the tar out of it—it’s as catchy as the Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks” but it’s a different kind of perfection, faster, louder, more frantic. Fifty listens (and counting) it’s still holding up. That’s “all-time great” in my book. Now let’s say, for sake of argument, that There Are No Answers subsequently faltered, failed to scale those lofty heights, never again took in that rarified air. Would it be a record worthy of seeking out? Yes. “Teenage Ruins” is that good. But Something Fierce wouldn’t pull that one-hit wonder crap on you. Time and time again they uncork songs I turn up as a matter of reflex. Guitar lines that are simple and infectious. Lead vocals that melt into backing vocals as they hold the vowel sounds at the end of the lines. I almost never understand the lyrics and I howl along anyway. (Isn’t that a symptom of Marked Men Syndrome?) There are nine excellent cuts here. It’s like a greatest hits record. The remaining three cuts, the relative stragglers, sound like Pete Shelley and company. That’s right, at its relative weakest, this disc reminds me of the Buzzcocks! There Are No Answers is the heart of my 2009 soundtrack.
–Mike Faloon
