Hey, if you’re not afraid of Americans at this point, you’re just not paying attention. And the saddest part about that? It applies to all sides of every argument and every issue.

So here we are. New Jersey-based heavy rock stalwarts The Atomic Bitchwax might be aiming to make a political statement in taking on David Bowie‘s “I’m Afraid of Americans” for a new tribute on Main Main Records — Frankenstein 3000 and The Ribeye Bros. also feature — but it’s inherently a political song. And despite the fact that it’s been nearly 25 years since the track first showed up — and oh, how edgy it was at the time; Bowie and peak-era Trent Reznor daring to make a statement about… anything — one can hardly argue against its continued resonance in the age of climate disaster, mass shootings, civil unrest, global pandemic, economic devastation, descent into tribalist fascism, on and on and fucking on. I’m an Amerian and I’m afraid of Americans too. Some of those fuckers are out grocery shopping without a mask on.

One wouldn’t expect the Bitchwax to make a sudden turn toward sociopolitical declaration — stranger things have happened, but it would be a shift for them — but what makes their “I’m Afraid of Americans” all the more interesting is how loyal it is to the Bowie/Reznor original. The Atomic Bitchwax are no more known for using synthesizers than they are for politics, and “I’m Afraid of Americans” sees drummer Bob Pantella taking on a multi-instrumentalists and programmer role while founding bassist Chris Kosnik handles vocals as usual. I’m not sure if from their description guitarist Garrett Sweeny is on this at all or if it was done before he was really integrated into the band last year, but either way, it’s a cool step outside the power-trio norm for The Atomic Bitchwax, and nice to know that more than 20 years on, they still have the ability to surprise.

However, don’t take this to mean they’re going industrial for their new album, Scorpio, when it arrives in August. Not saying I’ve heard it or anything, but it’s all the fuzzy speed rock scorch you know and love.

Enjoy the clip:

The Atomic Bitchwax, “I’m Afraid of Americans” official video

So we did a Bowie cover last year for a tribute record on Main Man Records, Bob did all the programming, played everything and transposed it a whole step down so I could sing it. It’s totally different than what you would expect from a Bitchwax song and just a lot of fun to do.

During the lock down we put together a video for it. This in no way is a political statement, in fact the clips in the vid used were only in Bowie’s lifetime. We are just Bowie fans covering a Bowie tune.

BTW, our new Bitchwax record “Scorpio” was postponed till Aug 30th because of the world falling apart ,so stay tuned for a couple singles over the summer!

Stay safe!!!

From the Main Man Records release – “Hero – A Tribute To David Bowie”
https://www.mainmanrecords.com/products/hero-the-main-man-records-tribute-to-david-bowie-vinyl-black

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Tee Pee Records website

They touch every now and again on late ’60s psychedelic garage pop, but at their core, there’s very little about The Ribeye Brothers that one could classify in one way or another as nonsense. Not no-nonsense, no-frills, but very few. On their fourth album, Call of the Scrapheap — released this year on Main Man Records — the Jersey-based five-piece prove heavy on wit and self-deprecation and light on flourish. That’s not to insinuate the 14 tracks on the 40-minute album, all but five of which clock in under three minutes, are somehow lacking, just that they’re efficient in a classic pop sense. Verses lead to strong choruses, organs complement guitars, and vocalist Tim Cronin and guitarist Jon Kleiman lead the band through good-time misery that makes as much use of Cronin‘s lyrical wit as any other element, the earliest cuts “Apples, Plums and Pears” and “Come in Last” setting the tone for the mood that the rest of the album follows through.

That mood? Filled with dry sarcasm, pointed self-critique and sometimes hilarious turns of phrase. “Apples, Plums and Pears” offers a straightforward hook in, “It’s cloudy all the time/The sun it never shines,” but “Coward’s Way” turns cliche on its head with “Some say it’s the coward’s way/I say cowards stay/I say cowards stay too long,” and “Good as New” asserts that “My good as new/Is neither good nor new.” Cronin‘s voice is perfectly suited to delivering these lines, he keeps a tongue-in-cheek feel that neither undercuts the sincerity in what he’s saying nor makes Call of the Scrapheap too wallowing. In addition, the upbeat rocking vibes of “Come in Last” and buzzsaw fuzz of “Smart Like Aristotle” provide an endearing contrast to the negativity of prose, giving The Ribeye Brothers a more complex vibe than they’d have if all the tracks were as much downers musically as they seem on the surface to be lyrically. Even as Cronin asserts that it’s cloudy all the time, the music behind him — provided by Kleiman, guitarist Brent Sisk, bassist Joe Calandra and drummer Neil O’Brien (who also did the album cover) — is as sunny as one could ask it to be.

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