’m halfway through a post highlighting the top artists to watch out for
here on the East Coast, so get excited folks. In all seriousness
though, with little to no fanfare, bands from the Maritimes are pumping
out stellar release after stellar release and musically, I'd say these
days are as good as almost any era I can remember (at least on par with
Sloan, Super Friendz, Thrush Hermit and trailing only the dominance of the MC J and Cool G period).

Hoping
to do my part, I’ve been going through as many of the new releases as I
can, hoping to get people excited for the rest of ’08 and beginnings of
’09. So where am I going with this? Well, Myles Deck and the Fuzz are going to make the list. When they put out there last release, I said “instead
of useless tracks about not fitting in and simple three chord
progressions, Myles and the rest of the Fuzz hit you in the teeth with
raw, Stooges style songs and a swagger that lets you know they don't
give a f@ck if you aren't into it.”

Flash forward to their new 7” – Police Cops
– and it's obvious the band has found their stride. They still ooze raw
energy, but the band seems to have tightened the screws. Everything
sounds bigger, badder and most importantly, better. You might be able to credit some of that to the engineer who worked the session (Joel Plaskett), as he’s certainly helped fine tune the sounds of some other notables, but I think most of the credit belongs to Myles and his Fuzz.

It’s
no secret that punk and garage bands get started because they can
barely play their instruments and most never get past those sweat
inducing three-chords and songs about girls, but Myles Deck and the
Fuzz have moved past all of the stereotypes of a band hoping for a
rebirth of sound. They might be firmly indebted to bands like the
Stooges and the Stones and the rage of an era that has past us by, but
they get better with each release and have the chops to make songs that
are more than adolescent, teenage anthems. They have evolved to songs
that are fist-pumping bangers that demand repeat listens and have something to say.

The lead single - Police Cops
– is an anti cop smoker that could have been the voice of protest in
the late 70s. Instead of another dose of the folk musings and slide
guitar that dominate the indie scene, MDatF jump start the record with
a surge of energy, nice oohs and ahhs, sing/shout choruses and raw
power. Ayatollah uses terrific
guitar work and booming drums to drive the song, but it’s the exhaled
breath that cuts each line that makes the track such a success.

It
might seem simple, but the band seems to know exactly how to control
their fury and energy and keep you moving without overwhelming you. The
first two tracks are rock solid, but the highlight of this vinyl slab
is the closer. Boom Boom - at
least for this band - is an epic (hitting the three-minute mark), but
it shows the band can write songs that can appeal to a much bigger
audience. It's a more mature sound, and one that hopefully the band can
harness moving forward. With more and more people embracing that grit
of garage rock, Myles Deck and the Fuzz should be getting more
attention and hopefully that will start soon. ~herohill.com