Bummer High’s Lost Highway is the second release from these street level garage punks and something about releasing it on cassette gives it a much cooler vibe. I mean, you could track them down on MySpace or the band’s website, but then you’d miss out on digging up the old walkman and having people either looking at you funny or swooning over your retro coolness.
Sharing members with fellow locals Time Copz and Indian Wars, Bummer High play some solidly fun music. There’s a bit of blues thrown into their old school dirty garage sound, but there’s also this underlying thing going on that makes me think of tequila and Mexican wrestlers. Perhaps this is the fuel that drives them?
For me, what is most striking is their nod to all things retro and how well they pull it off. Undeniably there is a definite throwback to gritty ‘50s and ‘60s garage surf and blues-rock with a jagged cheeky edge—a little like Black Lips, if comparisons must be made. As with a lot of music like this, as good as it may sound on record, a live setting is where I can see them being the most exciting. If they carry the same amount of energy onstage as they put onto Lost Highway then this is definitely how you ought to catch their wave.