Below the tracklist for the Cigarette Bums‘ “Silverlake Garage” Bandcamp page read the words “recorded in garage on a hot day.” That much is obvious — the garage part anyway. The “hot” part comes across more in the sense that it’s the perfect music for a hot summer day. Grainy and raucous, the band’s sound is reminiscent of late-’60s protopunk; the kind of music you’d hear soundtracking a bikini-clad hottie cracking the cap off a perspiring bottle of cola.
“Silverlake Garage” opens with frantic drum repetition on “D-Train,” swiftly jumping into fuzzy electric guitar licks, lingering bass notes and finally some balls-to-the-wall shouting. The album’s sweetest surprise is the recurring role of the saxophone, an instrument that desperately needs to be heard more in this context. It sounds best on “Goin’ Nowhere,” a cacophony in the best sense of the word. On final track, “The Odyssey,” the band breaks down into some Hendrix-esque riffing near the three-and-a-half minute mark. But by that time they’ve already won you over, so it’s more like just the cherry on top.
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