Taco Leg - Taco Leg

[These chaps are from Australia and, as far as I'm concerned, they pretty much came out of thin air. The only buzz that led me to the band was a short Pitchfork review. I avoided the band for days because of how terrible the name is but then I caved to curiosity. I won't waste any time quipping about how stupid the band name is. It is a stupid band name. Haha. I'm so clever for recognizing what is manifestly true. Ok, so I got that out of the way. Now, let's go to the review.]

Taco Leg's music could have come straight out of the 80s. Gritty production, gritty instrumentation, combined with gritty, bored, pissed off, working-man's-blues-type-lyrics all point to real authenticity. Many bands struggle for years to pull off that kind of hard-to-fake credibility. The only downside to being so true to life is the fact that, naturally, the product isn't all that glamorous.

While the lyrics are good, and there is a delicious, toe-tappingly simple punk beat, Taco Leg's songs sound like kind of trudge for the people actually playing the music. There is always an irascibility and a sneering to punk but in this case, they sound like they really don't want to be recording, at all. They sound like they would rather be smoking pot, sleeping, or as the front man complains in "Shut it Down", "I wished I'd stayed home and watched TV." 

This is definitely a valid expression of the "fuck you, world" punk ethic and they are certainly not the first to do it, but when combined with the lackadaisical vocals, it might lead some reviewers and critics to actually believe that Taco Leg really don't give a fuck at all, musically. While the band probably does care deeply about what they're doing, some reviewers are inevitably going to feel like they're being fucked with and are going to crap all over Taco Leg's efforts. In a commercial sense, this is going to be a constant frustration for them but in a punk sense: it's pure gold. Something in Taco Leg is stirring up strong feelings, especially in their detractors [if I were an illiterate idiot I would have said "haters" here].

But back to the actual judgment of their debut: while it is good fun, an amazing record it is not. It feels really good to listen to and is full of energy but the stripped-down production and stuttery guitar playing will make lots of people turn it off. This doesn't mean Taco Leg won't succeed by the power of pure determination [and I really hope they do] but this is not Wire 2.0 [as much as I want it to be]. But as debuts go, and many go much worse than this, it is a promising start. [TRANSLATION: Taco Leg, PLEASE keep making more music, just don't get comfy yet]

KEY SONGS:
1. Shut it Down 
2. Kid Legs
3. Hide