Songs for the Garbage People
Punk isn’t the genre for long releases. Keeping it short, sweet and to the point is one of punk’s M.O.’s. Wimps have made a career off of this. The Seattle, Washington trio formed in 2012 and have released five different EPs and albums. Their newest release, Garbage People, is a six song, 13-minute EP off of Kill Rock Stars.
The EP starts with “Giant Brain” which is a fast, fun track with enjoyable vocals by guitarist Rachel Ratner. The lo-fi, unproduced sound gives this track an old-school garage rock feel as Ratner sings distorted vocals. Past the one minute mark, the track begins to get trippy as Ratner begins to scream followed by a set of power chords that go one by one down the neck of the guitar. It’s a great opener and has the listener wanting more from the rest of the EP. “Garbage People,” as does the rest of EP, has some killer background vocals on choruses that emphasize the harmonies this group possess.
The highlight of “Mope Around” is the bass from Matt Nyce. Before the vocals kick in, he goes on his own track with the bass creating a nice balance between the deep sound and the guitar riff. This riff is also nothing to scoff at – it’s hard to even distinguish it as a riff and not a solo for how long it is. “Mope Around” pokes fun at the natural moping attitude we all go through and compares it to a dance move, showing the Wimps humor which is even more ridiculous on the next track.
“O.P.P.” – how can it be explained? Well, like the Naughty By Nature track, it builds up something sexual in the first verse of what the acronym stands for, and then the track throws you for that punk look by proclaiming a need for “other people’s pizza.” The Wimps version is a cute punk track that makes the listener laugh in the groups stern declaration of love for pizza – cheese only though. “Quitter” laughs at the idea of quitting certain tendencies like eating meat and smoking. “Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but life’s not as fun when you’re a quitter,” says Ratner after proclaiming that quitting these things isn’t even worth it in the end.
“Insomnia” closes out Garbage People. It questions if you can’t sleep, can you even realize when you are awake – a depressing thought but with a lack of sleep being a common occurrence among Americans everywhere, it’s probably something you’ve wondered without even realizing. Garbage People exemplifies a quality over quantity method to make a cool little punk release with fun tracks that showcase a snarky, cute bite of humor that many punk albums don’t do well.
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