With their Gearhead debut -- a two-song seven-inch -- this trio of transplanted Japanese badasses add another level of nasty spazz to the ever-growing Jap punk-rock reputation. In that fine tradition, the Spunks race through skronky punk blasts with roughly three chords at their disposal, and the "production" leaves in all the extraneous bleed. Basically, if you're familiar with Jet Boys/Teengenerate/Guitar Wolf, you'll have a pretty good idea of where this furiously frazzled band is coming from.
But even punk diehards may be surprised to learn that this relatively unknown combo has been going at it for nearly nine years and dropped three CDs. Something is amiss here then, since the new seven-inch is as crazy-fun as anything Gearhead has released in a spell, yet there's no word of the label signing the Spunks proper for a full CD. So maybe this is a last leap for the Spunks too. If so, here's hoping they stay on the ledge screaming for a while.
