CD Review: Hard-Ons "Very Exciting!" (Bomp!)

Hard-Ons "Very Exciting!" (Bomp!)

Listening to this Australian trio's latest, their first new album in two 
years, it's as if no time at all has passed since the band's mid-80s debut. 
With original guitarist Blackie and bassist Lee supplemented by new drummer 
Pete, the band cranks out 15 new punk-pop tunes with hook-filled melodies 
and metal guitars that bridge from Matthew Sweet type power-pop to 
harder-rock.

Though there are many American touchstones for the band's mid-tempo music 
(Ramones, Descendents, Mr. T Experience), there are also elements of the 
sort of UK rock bands that were lumped into late-70s punk/new-wave, e.g., 
Eddie & The Hot Rods, Bram Tchaikovsky, and Little Bob Story. To be sure, 
the Hard-Ons filtered these latter influences through the angst of '80s 
hardcore, but they picked up the energy of the latter, without losing the 
melody and Stones-ian rock 'n' roll of the former. Even as they trash away 
at their guitars for tracks like "Sunny" and "Olympic Diver," they lay on 
falsetto harmonies as a counterpoint. Extra credit for the heavy-metal 
thunder of "(Every Time I Hear) Techno (I Pray for Death)," and its segue to 
the light-and-trippy "Breakfast Caramel."

With Green Day, Blink 182, and the rest of the commercial punk darlings 
having brought these sounds to the masses, this isn't exactly unexplored 
territory, even in the mainstream. But for those who simply can't get 
enough, or for a nostalgic trip back to the underground of the mid-80s, this 
is the real deal.

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