We Won't Change Our Style
Dirty Water Records
One can't talk about The Hollywood Sinners without going into how Spain is a garage rock Mecca. Never mind that some incredible bands like The Shake, The Gurus, and Los Guajos just to name a few, it's bigger than that. Gijon, Spain is home to Circo Perotti Recording Studios, an all analog studio where garage rock legends Mike Mariconda, musician and well known producer for The Mummies, New Bomb Turks, Downbeat 5 and countless others, and co-producer Jorge Explosion, known most recently for producing the last Cynics release Here We Are, but also for his own band, Dr. Explosion, who recorded a rocked-out version of "Better Days" from Vindicated: A Tribute to The Fleshtones. The studio uses all analog equipment, much of it from Abbey Road Studios or The BBC, and ONLY record in mono! just a sample of who's recorded with Mike and/or Jorge at Circo Perotti Recording Studios include The Masonics, The Urges, Billy Childish, and The Longboards. The result of recording in mono is that the recording sounds good anywhere, at any angle and without the compromises inherent in stereo recordings when one listens to it on a system without perfect speaker placement. In fact, stereo sounds best on headphones. Besides, rock 'n' roll should sound great anywhere. Additionally, the primitive nature of r&b, roots garage rock lends itself well to mono. Therefore, it's no surprise that The Hollywood Sinners and their new release, We Won't Change Our Style is recorded in "100% mono loco!" This stuff is so primitive and basic that it might pre-date stone tools. Call it raw and savage, if you will. Better explained, it's totally ape!
If you're a garage rock purist, you can't get any more authentic than We Won't Change Our Style. One gets a straight punch of beer soaked realism that's the closest thing to a reproduction of a live show on "Wild Man," while "Quero Ser Como Wau U Los Arrrghs!!!" is exactly what is meant by the definition of rock 'n' roll having heavy beats, loudness, and a delivery that's anything but subtle. This is the kind of stuff that scared parents in the late '50s and is abrasive and loud enough that it lives up to rock 'n' roll being something your parents won't like. "I'm a Martian" is bound to make you want to scream along and shake your head until your neck hurts. "Blow My Mind" will conjure up your fondest memories of seeing the loudest, most incredible and memorable bands at your favorite local dive where the beer flows freely while the audience is all in the same mindset in their awe of the band that was brought about by rock 'n' roll hypnosis, while the band connects with the audience by shooting sonic adrenaline straight to the brainstem, which is the most primitive, reptilian part of our brains that is responsible for the basic ruling of emotions. No need for complex thought here, We Won't Change Our Style goes right to the origin. It's not art since that takes complex thought, but who needs that when you got rock 'n' roll? There is a lot more to The Hollywood Sinners, of course. Songs Like "Wonderful Feeling" have such a heavy drum intro from Oscar and feedback surf/fuzz combined with a heart felt howl that's unmistakenly brilliant in rawness and appeal. when one hears guitar/vox Edu Sinner screaming "Girl!," one knows exactly what the feelings are behind it and immediately identify with it.
An added treat on We Won't Change Our Style is a scratchier, louder cover of The Sonics "Boss Hoss" that's such an awe inspiring, noisy adulteration of the original that it can be seen as equivalent to what The Sonics did to rock 'n' roll/r&b songs themselves by making them louder and faster. The Hollywood Sinners are unrestrained garage rock 'n' roll in all its raw, unrefined, early anthropoid glory. We Won't Change Our Style is a must own for true garage rock fans. It's full of power, noise, and teenage rebellion, but adds in a high held middle finger in total disregard and contempt for not only all the crappy music that's out there and that most people listen to, but also for the over adulterated way most of it is made. There's no need to explain it or write about it anymore, for that matter. You get it. Now go listen to it and buy it!
Viva Hollywood Sinners!
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