Rating: NNNN
Long before the city became synonymous with hyped-?up art rock bands, Montreal was home to some of the best snot-?nosed teen garage rock in Canada thanks to the Gruesomes. This reissue of their 1988 classic, Hey!, is a joyous reminder of the foursome’s ability to write perfect fuzz-?toned little pop blasts.
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When Hey! came out, the Gruesomes had just hit their early 20s and toured the country exhaustively with little success to show for it. You can hear the wear and tear in What Am I Doing This For? and the heavy-?riffed Out Of Our Tree. In case you already own this Canadian gem, Ricochet tacked on the Garbage Pail Kids demos, which were recorded on a four-?track in 1985 and include far-?out covers of Jack The Ripper and The Witch.
Top track: So Far, So Bad
