Cheap Time
Since 2006, Tennessee garage-rock group Cheap Time has existed in no fewer than five separate incarnations, the one constant being the leadership of founder, singer and guitarist Jeffrey Novak. The latest version of the band—the one involved in the making of Cheap Time’s second LP, this year’s Wallpaper Music—includes bassist Cole Kinnear and drummer Ryan Sweeney.
Judging by the record, it’s a high-functioning combo. Punk-speckled tracks like “Another Time” suggest both the paranoid urban power of 1970s NYC CBGB-rock and the flippant misanthropy of its L.A. counterpart. Hints of druggy glam-rock round out the sound. Comparisons to Aussie trailblazers The Saints also abound in reviews of Wallpaper Music; they’re apt, though Cheap Time’s grime is more Nashville than Brisbane.
Indeed, the mold that grows in the dark corners of Cheap Time’s music seems a product of the same Southern something that has propelled artists like The Black Lips or the late Jay Reatard (with whom Novak lived at the time of Reatard’s untimely passing). Owing to the music’s obvious if intangible regionalism, these revivals often feel more specific and vital than the tunes that inspired them.
Sanctioned by tastemaking snot-rock repository In the Red Records, Cheap Time is undoubtedly the anchor of Tuesday’s impressive bill. But all the bands on the showcase are would-be stars of a new, second wave of throwbackers. Atlanta outfit Turf War has been climbing the indie ladder for months with its meaty melodicism, while locals Vincas and All City Cannonballers bring the spooky, low-end fuzz and power-pumping rock glory, respectively.
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