It's funny how things work out sometimes.
Well, I mean, most of the time, things turn out tragically and I end up being more miserable than I ever was before, but occasionally, things come up Jimmy and everything seems alright in the world. Razorbumps was one of those rare cases where things turned out wonderfully. So, I first heard about this group a while back, likely around the same time that the tape first dropped back in early April. I can't recall exactly because, as I've already established more than enough times in the past, my memory is shit. I know my first exposure to them was on that one punk blog I used to follow; I think it was some variation of "Every Dawg Has to War", but I'm not so sure on that since the owner doesn't care about it anymore; I'm pretty sure the guy's name was something along the lines of "Well Mecha". But I can't seem to find that particular post about Razorbumps anymore, so it was either removed or I just had a really lame fever dream about it. Regardless, I enjoyed their sounds immensely and intended to post them on my own accord, eventually. But I got caught up with a bunch of other stuff that I needed to post, and just as you would expect, I forgot about it. Like I said, shit memory. Once I did get around to the band, I found that their tape was already posted by the newly-founded label's KZfaq page, "Sarcophagus Club". It's my m/o to only share stuff that hasn't already been uploaded on KZfaq yet, so to swipe the rug underneath the label and say "this is my KZfaq content now" would probably be a little rude. So that pretty much put the final nail in the "Jimmy x Razorbumps" coffin, with there being no real chance for me to piggyback off of their material so I can get more attention on the internet. Well, it turns out that a member of the group contacted me back in early April to ask if it'd be possible that I share their tape, I just totally missed it because Facebook marked the message as spam. Again, it's funny how things work out sometimes. That's just the way she goes.
That's my extended explanation as to why I haven't gotten to this tape sooner, because I definitely should have. Denton's Razorbumps is insane, but I'm sure you've already come to that conclusion from the get-go. Those sharp, sharp chords that the guitarist fires off at the start, which I initially mistook for a synth, are so damn cool. It's not often that you can hear guitar work that angular in punk, it gives the whole tape a way-poppier flavor that wouldn't be nearly as omnipresent had the guitarist not chose to rail on those high strings as much. It's a motif that's constant throughout the first half of this tape, with the guitarist delivering on those delectable little chords while the bassist picks up the slack.
Speaking of which, apparently both of those instruments are handled by the same person, and I know for a fact that even if he pulled a "guitar-with-bass-strings" sort of thing, there ain't enough fingers on the human hand to pull off the crazy riffs found on this tape by themself. So, since Razorbumps is a three-piece, I'm guessing that they're a band that hasn't left the practice space yet. I can't say for sure though, it's possible that they've picked up a fourth and intend to play at shows, or maybe they already have by now. Man, I don't know. I tried to use my usual internet-punk detective techniques to figure out a bit more about the group without bothering anybody, but at most, all I found were some shaving tips for people with sensitive skin.
Anyways, I can't stress how great Razorbumps is, regardless of whether or not they're an out-and-about band by this point in time. This debut tape, which was first put out in early April, acutely displays some of the best sounds that you'd expect to come out of some Texan's garage. All tracks considered, Razorbumps play garage-tinged rock n' roll with bits of pop punk influence sprinkled graciously throughout. It's practically everything I could possibly want from a band of this nature: melodic, catchy as hell riffs and basslines (which often times sound like they're playing a different song entirely with how dynamic they can be), some of the best drumming in the business, and reverbed female vocals that're often layered on top of one another to give the illusion of legitimate vocal harmonies. And, of course, with there being added touches of delightfully sharp chords added into the mix in the first two tracks. They're eventually abandoned for the last three tracks, instead sticking to more-straight-forward garage rock melodies as opposed to the poppy, chromatic-chord laden stuff displayed in the first two tracks. You have to admire the variation, if anything, though I'm sure you won't be short of things to admire about Razorbumps. They're good, real good.
TRACK LIST:
Put 'Em Right To Bed - 0:00
Do You Wanna? - 0:53
Don't Say Nothin - 2:02
Termination - 3:05
S.T.I.C.K. - 4:21
DOWNLOAD: razorbumpstx.bandcamp.com/rele...