CD Reviews

The Friggs - Today is Tomorrow's Yesterday (Singles & Unreleased Songs) (Apex East Recordings)

The Firggs Are Friggin' AWESOME!

Ok, here's the technical stuff you need to know: Culled from their 90's releases, these five 7" singles, one EP, and The Frigg's debut album, "Rock Candy" are all on one CD, and they blast out some of THE BEST neanderthal, knuckle-draggin,' garage rock, mixed with hot, molten surf punk. They also shaped their CD like an old 45 adaptor: yellow plastic, serpentine-shaped, very cool. Listening to these 15 tunes, you'll realize that they are definitely left of the dial. So "left" that it's like the tuning knob is broke, and nobody what's to change the channel because the music is sooo good!!

Need a more proof about their awesometicity? Well, The Friggs even have their own theme song which is apply titled, "Friggs Theme." It's two minutes and five seconds of music bristling with trippy, spy-movie guitars, echoing with the lines "We're the Friggs."- I think every band should have their own theme song! But The Friggs are not without a tear-jerker. On "You Don't Know What You Got (Until You Lose It)," they purse a sixties-style soul vibe with a vocal that is Dusty Springfield-indebted, that swings with a loungy-charm. This band has depth, personality, and can rock your socks off!

"Conestega Nova" is a smart, instro-mental that rocks like a cheezy Spaghetti Western with a Dick Dale/ Ventures mojo, while "Mama Look At Me Now" rocks with a 60's style Faces slide guitar, accentuated with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that rivals The Runaways' glorious-results-of-a- misspent-youth, primative rocker "Cherry Bomb."

The urgency is all natural. The barks, yelps, grunts, and stories of deep-wound blues are real, and as The Friggs say," We love hate... and we hate everything else." "Today Is Tomorrow's Yesterday" has the ragged enthusiasm of a hungry band getting it's first taste, just a decade later. The melodic invention in The Friggs songs, and the emotional investment are in direct contrast to how some other band just merely make music. The Friggs now come into their own- at high speed!

- Phil Rainone

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