"Shout Above the Noise" Radio Show

Tuff Darts! - You Can't Keep a Good Band Down

(Captain Trip Records)
(REVIEW BY DAVE GETZOFF)

First and foremost, the Tuff Darts! are a great rock n' roll band. They emerged from the 1970s New York City CBGB's/Max's Kansas City scene. The thing I really like about the early New York punk scene is the bands tended to have their own unique sounds. Sure, the New York bands were inspired by earlier rock n' roll bands. However, they usually didn't copy off each other. The Ramones were the Ramones, The Dead Boys were the Dead Boys, The Dictators were the Dictators, The Heartbreakers were the Heartbreakers, Blondie was Blondie, and the Tuff Darts! were certainly the Tuff Darts! In my opinion, they are one of the best of the lesser known bands from the early New York punk scene. There are some great songs on their debut album. "Who's Been Sleeping Here?" is one of the best powerpop songs you will ever hear. "She's Dead" and "(Your Love is Like) Nuclear Waste" are great anti-love songs. The band's best known song, "All For the Love of Rock n' Roll", should have been a hit.

You Can't Keep a Good Band Down, which has been released this year, is the second Tuff Darts! full-length album. It is the long awaited follow up to the band's self-titled debut album released on Sire Records in 1978 (which was re-issued on CD by Wounded Bird Records in 2002). You Can't Keep a Good Band Down is the perfect title for the new album. In fact, although there is a twenty-nine year gap between the two albums, this album sounds as if it could have been released in 1979 shortly after the first album. They haven't lost a thing. The Tuff Darts! continue to do what they do best on this release by combining the sounds of mid sixties American garage and British Invasion bands, powerpop, and early American punk. If you like the first album, you will definitly like this album. I just received it today, and I have already listened to it six times. If you are not familiar with the Tuff Darts! and you like the sound of '77 style punk rock and roll, this band is definitely worth checking out.
Dave Getzoff August 6, 2007

(originally posted on Now Wave Webzine on August 6, 2007)