Bass Drum of Death

Jay Reatard's untimely death last year left a hole in the once unstoppable garage-punk scene, and GB City, the first from Mississippi's Bass Drum of Death, hopes to fill that void. They've come surprisingly close. At barely a half-an-hour long, GB City turns things up to 11 and runs through a beer-soaked collection of stomp-and-clamp-alongs begging for equal parts participation and praise. The vocals get a bit nasally, but that's easy to overlook with all the distortion. Bass Drum of Death's sound is a little reckless, at times a bit familiar, but it never tries to be anything more than it is: to the point rock'n'roll with a bit of filth and a ton of melody. A catchy retro-rock throwback full of "oohs," "ahhs" and '60s bounce, "Young Pros" is the album's best song. Its worst? We'll let you know if we find one.