The Electric Bunnies

Remember when you'd buy a really good seven-inch record and you played the shit out of it for a couple of months before you began to wonder if your crappy needle was gonna do a number on the wax? I don't (cuz I have a good needle), but I do remember playing a good seven-inch over and over! On the Electric Bunnies latest seven-inch release, Eskimo, you'll want to play this garage-punk psychedelic platter with the same frequency. Starting off side A with what can only be described as a Nanook of the North-inspired love song, "Eskimo" does the record title justice with a romping guitar- and claps-driven rock jam. It seems like group members Eldys (vocals/bass) and brothers Thomas (drums) and Victor (guitar) have been at it as some form of Miami-based punk outfit since forever. Who can forget the riotous thrashy grindcore punk they doled out when they called themselves the Skuzzbuckets? I can't forget because I still have the scars to remind me (with special thanks to the anonymous fool who dropped a bottle of beer at Club 5922). But it all culminates with this incarnation. Everything they've ever experienced as a musical unit is realized here on Eskimo. The first side of the record closes with "Eat Worms," another tricked-out number that is equal parts good-time rock and military mandate. Side B is where it all gets pushed into the abyss of eccentric excess. The result, however, is pretty good, and you'll find yourself returning to it, looking for meaning and subliminal messages. Kinda reminds me of the mid-'90s noise movement in which everything and anything is made into an instrument. "Counting Sheep" aspires to mellow you out, but the cacophony of car alarms, distortion, bleats, and vacuum noises keeps you alert enough to notice the creepy Gregorian-like chanting. Let's hope we don't have to wait long for a full-length. In the meantime, keep your needles clean!