Vinyl LP pressing. 2012 album from the Indie rockers. Hailing from Tennessee, Cheap Time has been around in one incarnation or another since 2006. The nucleus has always been Jeffrey Novak, who writes and sings in addition to playing guitar and keyboards. The band began with members of the band Be Your Own Pet rounding out the lineup-theirs was a sound of a teen punk band with more attitude than musicianship, owing more than a little to early Redd Kross. By the time Cheap Time recorded their debut album, the personnel had changed drastically and, in addition to improved musicianship, Novak brought in influences of '70s glam and power pop acts like Sparks and the Quick. Despite the many changes, however, Cheap Time has always been a sum of it's parts. A quintessential ingredient is the low-fidelity bombast with which they scuzz up their otherwise lightweight brand of simplified 1970s glam punk, packing an impressive amount of adolescent snootiness into two-minute blasts of sound with both precision and melody.
M**N
Four stars now, maybe five later....
I have been listening to this constantly for the past two days. Obviously, I find the album quite appealing, but I have been unable to exactly what it is that draws me in. This quote from AllMusic sums it up better than I could; "With Novak's world-class sneer resting on top, this is a good set of bad vibes, and rock & roll malcontents should put this album on their want lists pronto."The album makes me think a whole lot of past bands I've liked (I grew up on Detroit rock and roll like The Stooges, the MC5, etc.), without resembling any particular one. That's a tough thing to do. It's certainly not for everybody. but in concurrence with the above quote, sometimes bad vibes make me happy....
C**R
hard rockin', fun & sleazy punk `n' rollers
3rd release from Tennessee band--rockin', fun & sleazy punk `n' rollers who've listened to a lot of the Sex Pistols and a bit of Velvet Underground. They've got the sneer, the energy and the punk/garage guitar chops to make it happen. A sweet & mean little garage rock ass-kicker!
