Author and Semisonic drummer Jake Slichter has been gigging and recording in NYC lately with Resistor, a post-modern post-punk ensemble of the first order. Slichter keeps the rhythm solid. Doug Halsey, operator of the fine animal rescue website, Ready4rescue.org, is the main songwriter/singer/rhythm guitarist. Shawn Tracy, a veteran of some excellent 90s bands such as Die Monster Die, is the lead guitarist. NYC journalist Larry Kanter plays bass and sings backing vocals.
The band has just released What I Get vs. What I Want, an excellent 9-song album which can be downloaded at Bandcamp. On their BandCamp page Resistor promises, “Immediate download of 9-track album in your choice of MP3 320, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.”
As for remuneration, Resistor is willing to negotiate. “The price tag?” notes the band, “We think it’s worth at least five bucks. But you are free to pay what you’d like.”
Catchy, fresh and tightly performed, the songs run the gamut of stylistic homage from Iggy to Gram Parsons. Some of the best lyrics feature the crisp humor of pre-emptive overstatement such as the scorching title track with its classic lament of temporal disaffection, “The future is so dated. The past is overrated.” The anthemic, “Tall Boys” excoriates men of height with pith and good humor. The lads go countrypunkin’ on “The Sad Eyed Angel (of the Cul-de-Sac),” a jangly ballad of loss set among suburban geography. The entire album makes for powerful rockin’ of the smart and sarcastic variety consistent with the very best of the postpunk era.
Please check it out, enjoy what you hear, and send some money Resistor’s way.
