Nuts & Balls 10″
Mind of a Child Records, 1994

While you’ll find no shortage of bands doing collegiate, guitar-driven pop punk, only the smallest of a percentage are truly worth your time. It’s difficult to identify and quantify what makes some so much better than others. All use the same tools and conventions, but for whatever reason, some simply don’t make an impression while others can’t be heard enough. This Chicago-by-way-of-Bowling Green, OH group is one of those rare bands that got it right as evidenced by this stellar 10″ from Ohio’s tiny Mind of A Child label. Their loosely sketched, midwestern kegger approach to crafting catchy garage pop sounds something like Archers of Loaf doing a set of cover songs pulled from Crypt Records’ Back from the Grave compilations, captured in the grooves of the Meat Puppets’ early records. They’ve been compared to Hüsker Dü as well, and that fits too, if you can imagine the Hüskers flying some fIREHOSE flannel in a basement show in some midwestern college town student ghetto. They followed this release with an album on Mind of A Child in 1996 and their sophomore album on Colorado’s Owned and Operated label in 1999. Also included with this post is another hard to find track: their side of a split 7″ with Chicago’s Vambo Marble Eye from 1994 on the Off White record label. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD:

New Rob Robbies – Nuts & Balls 10″ (30mb zip)
New Rob Robbies – “Pig Day” from split 7″ with Vambo Marble Eye