GYMSHORTS

Sneering punks from Providence GYMSHORTS have a lot to say and say most all of it on their first full length album “No Backsies!”. The band is a massive whirlwind of energy, the album blasting with heavy, grungy sound from start to finish. There are layers and layers of fuzzy guitar, adding in over each other, making the enormous sound even bigger and more dynamic. Angry solos tear through the background of nearly every song, giving a unique twist to the wall of fuzzed punk sound. Adding to the force is the unforgiving, strong vocals by singer/guitarist Sarah, which delivers an endless supply of power and personality. The band is as loud as their love of capitalization would lead you to believe, and the whole album is a party of noisiness and distortion. But it also has some lighter surf punk vibes, and the band uses a variety of thumping tempos on songs like “OH BROTHER” to create different tones in their punk sound. GYMSHORTS have managed to perfectly capture the spirit of loud and young rebellion, owning their own brand of loose, grungy straight-out-of- the-garage rock that does not need to be polished off.

“No Backsies!” is out now and you can get a digital copy or grab a cassette from Wiener Records, or find them at a show soon. - Boston Hassle

Punk Rock
by AMADEUSMAG

The last time we saw Gymshorts, they accomplished more in their short 30-minute set than some bands of similar raging noise-punk nature will manage only after playing with each other for years. Tearing through “Herman Melville” and other tracks from their purposefully, defiantly, invitingly imperfect recent release, No Backsies, their chemistry exploded.

On record, Gymshorts’ dynamic force builds upon its members equally—Sarah Greenwell’s startlingly visceral howls, guitarist Devin Domonic’s wall of noise, Trevor Farrah’s bass giving even their hardest songs an elastic, low-end pogo-ability. But live, drummer Mike Ferschke is heavy and fierce as hell (which makes his angelic all-white bleach-blonde ensemble sort of great), raising his arms only to strike down maximum damage with mostly every hit of the kit.

The four-piece punk dynamo from Rhode Island, is everything you want in a punk band: brutal, unrefined, and absolutely thrashing. With songs like, “Daylight Savings,” on which Greenwell asserts, “I wish every day was daylight savings/an extra hour of sunlight/ an extra hour to get high,” they are exactly how you’d expect them to be offstage; upbeat, hilarious, New England punks who’d like nothing more than to goof off and make music with their friends. However that impression partially collapses when they mount the stage, strap into their instruments, and reveal their sludge-coated surf riffs and drums that sound both wildly anarchic and assertively tight.

Greenwell flips between coarse, grating shrieks that sass, seethe, and spit the band’s cumulative passion like warm barf. She impeccably manages to convey both the relentless energy of primitive punk rock and an endlessly listenable charm, while usually frantically clashing and moshing with unsuspecting crowd members (since just about everyone is too fucking cool to dance these days, even at a goddamn punk show).

And standing near a speaker for 30 minutes during a Gymshorts set is a surefire formula for hearing loss. No exaggeration but, then again, no complaints. You don’t go to a Gymshorts show to chill out. You go to a Gymshorts show to watch Greenwell vocally punch her way through a web of Dominic’s shrill, thousand-times-fuzzed-over guitar noise. That ringing in your ears post-show is like a souvenir — or a proud battle scar.

Gymshorts’ vicious musical attack has garnered the attention of many as they tirelessly tour around the east coast, laying down a raw and to the point range of songs. The band seems more concerned with dismantling drum kits and ripping through guitar strings. But that sense that anything can happen, even in a 2:24 song like “Bed (Stuy),” is what keeps the ear excited and engaged.

Gymshorts play a show at Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain tomorrow 5/6. Listen to more from Gymshorts here! - Amadeus Magazine

Although every movement that sprouted out of Rock music imbued a sense of rebellion, the complete realization of that rebellion has always been, and will probably always be the Punk movement of the late 70s and early 80s. That spirit of rebellion and complete disregard for authority and work ethic is something that to this day, seeps into every project I’m involved in, even in the smallest sense. Of course this sound had an evolution and warped itself into something more complex and layered altogether, but that isn’t to say that it started out like that. Sure, you had your political machinations and social unrest, but my favorite aspect of Punk music has always been the simple desire to just not do what you’re told. It’s this simple, almost childish vendetta against structure that makes Punk music so endearing for me. Similarly, it’s the same reason why I love GYMSHORTS’ “NO BACKSIES” album so much. Everything about this album is Punk rock done right; the aesthetic, the simplicity, and of course the music.

The album kicks off with “OWED TO THE BANK”, which is a great introduction to what GYMSHORTS is all about. The sound is thunderous from the very beginning, the first two notes of the bassline deceiving the listener before the entire band comes in all at once. It’s just a fantastic sound, and actually has a great production value. The levels on the track are all perfect, with the cymbal infused drums not overpowering the guitars or the vocals. The vocals are fantastic, and the lead singer is a powerful force in this band, capturing a sense of apathy about while still emoting in a way that’s incredibly captivating. The “fuck-off” quality on this track is what I like most about it.

The second track is “HERMAN MELVILLE”, which kinda threw me for a loop. It’s a great song, and it might be my favorite record on the track, but it is incredibly different from the rest of the tracks. The guitars on this track are fucking excellent. I mean seriously, the tone is gorgeous and although it plays more like a rock song then a Punk song, the intensity of “OWED TO THE BANK” is being built upon on this track and is slowly establishing a definitive aesthetic for the album. That sounds kinda contradictory, since it’s so different from the first track, but maybe it’s because I’m looking at the album in retrospect. This is the song that made me want to recommend this album, and I still can’t get enough of it.

“OH BROTHER” is like a mix of the first two tracks in that it’s almost as short as the first track but captures the intensity of the second track. “OH BROTHER” is great because it’s effectively using pauses to keep the momentum of the track going, elevating the sound to something so much more. This is the point in the album where I began really understanding how good at songwriting GYMSHORTS actually is. This is song is navigated masterfully to create a sound that’s not as harsh as most punk records, but still just as powerful. It’s also just a ton of fun to listen to.

The fourth track, “DAYLIGHT SAVINGS” is probably one of the more interesting tracks, instrumentally speaking. The droning sound around 0:28 drew me in instantly and made me completely envious of the guitarist. There’s a real talent in this band’s instrumentation and it shines through despite whatever reputation of simplicity their genre may pigeonhole them into, and it keeps coming out in random moments throughout this album. What’s crazy about this album is that four songs in, it still hasn’t lost any momentum and isn’t boring. It’s still a powerhouse of an album halfway through, and it only gets better.

“SCUMDOG” falls dead center on the album and it’s a great statement to put right at the center of the tirade that is “NO BACKSIES”. The simple hedonism that it endorses is at the core of what this album is actually about. The lead singer stretches her vocal chops a bit on this track and it’s wonderful to see. Honestly, the entire band is stellar and it comes through very much so in their songwriting. I thought that finally the intensity of the album would taper off a bit after this track, especially since “BED(STUY)” started off a lot slower paced than the last couple of tracks, but I was woefully mistaken. The hook(?) of “BED(STUY)” is just as fast paced as the rest of the album, actually probably moreso. Also, the “banana” lyrics on this song might be some of my favorite lyrics ever in music.

“YOU OLNEYVILLE ONCE” is a gem on this album for two reasons. It’s funniness and what that humor actually means. This is an incredibly funny album but that humor underscores what is actually just brilliant storytelling and an album that is more of a complete statement than most other albums that preach about deeper sentiment. This track is sprinkled with another fantastically distorted guitar sound, and the vocals in the beginning are something to marvel at. The lead singers voice is powerful and commanding in the beginning of this track, making the whole sound anthemic.

“VIBERATOR” once again has that gorgeous droney guitar sound that I’m so envious of. The tempo is distinctly slower in this song, but it actually fits when aligned with what the song is speaking on. What threw me for a bit of loop again was the breakdown at the end of the song. At points shoegazey, at points arena-rock sounding, but what was essentially a sound that sounded like it was in a category completely its own, the breakdown is just completely hypnotic.

The resolution at the end, “HEY PARENTS!” is a great way to end the album. The song has almost the slowest tempo on the entire album but it’s just as intense and powerful, if not moreso than anything else on the album. They do pick up the pace at the end of the track, and the cacophonous conclusion is the definitely the ending that the album needed to have; it’s the only way they could’ve ended the album.

The reason I like this album so much is because while it may sound like it’s endorsing an apathetic lifestyle (and it probably is), what I take away from the album is the idea that it isn’t a crime to indulge oneself. It’s a beautiful and simple sentiment, and it’s illustrated perfectly on this album. The instrumentation, the vocals, every part of this album coalesces into something grander than it’s parts, and that’s something that is hard to find in albums. Although a tad misleading (but maybe not really), I think the overall point of the album is explained in “SCUMDOG”: “Life’s more fun when your scum!”

Remember to share this article and tell people about GYMSHORTS by clicking “Share” to the left of this article, and as always, Take Heed. - Music Take Heed

ymshorts – Here’s a band we’ve been getting into a lot recently. I wish they were from Boston, so we could see them on the reg, but you do what you can. We saw them on a sick bill in December with Nice Guys and The TeleVibes at the Middle East ZuZu. This set is similar to that one and the band is pretty dirty and heavy. It’s the muddier, less attractive version of garage rock. It’s not cheery bubblegum, that’s for sure.
About half way through the set one of the guitarists condemns the crowd of stiffs, “Did you guys all come out here just to stand around.” Well, that set the fireworks off, and the stiffs start to loosen up and slamdance like they oughta. I’m pretty much out of it by this point, if you want to know the truth. In a split second, I’m flung from one side of the room to the next, barely able to stand. And I do the same to other patrons, you know how these things go.
“Hey Mom, Hey Dad” is my favorite from the night. Lead vocalist/guitarist Sarah’s vocals are delivered in ferocious, devilish yalps that bring to mind Kim Gordon, except Gymshorts are much more fun.
Another highlight includes “Bed (Stuy).” It’s hilarious when everyone is moshing and the band is going like 90 mph then SLAMS on the breaks and stops playing for a moment and everyone stops moshing. Then they start playing again and the moshing starts up again, and it’s just start, stop, start, stop. It’s really hilarious. Like they are dictators and we are all robots. I could live under a Gymshorts dictatorship. http://gymshorts.bandcamp.com/ - Kids Like You and Me: Punk Slime of All the Time

Based in Providence , Gym Shorts has been hitting the scene hard with their infectiously quirky bad ass surf punk. Due to the lead singer, Sarah, being from New York, The band frequents between Providence and New York venues. They have recordings online as well as a casette going around put out by Providence tape label "tape boy." - LOCAL MAGAZINE - WINTER 2013