My love of duos is well known. Bands like the HUSSY, the COURETTES, the GOOCH PALMS, the MAXINES, and now the NEW BRUTARIANS are among my favorites. It’s probably not coincidental that all of those bands also feature one male member and one female member. If you took the energy of 1977 punk and focused it into more of a pop theme, you might get something like this Hysteria LP. The band they remind me of the most is the HEARTBREAKERS. It’s super catchy and mid-tempo and melodic, but also has a garage element to it. While it’s got its more traditional punk moments, at its core, I’d call this pop music, but it’s got an authenticity rarely found in pop. They even throw in an acoustic number. It’s fun to listen to pop music played by folks who grew up on punk, as opposed to pop music played by folks who grew up on Top 40 radio. Just a different thing entirely.
