Teenage Rehab

Kentucky-fried pinballin’ punks Teenage Rehab return with a suitably Ritalin-ready new full-length on Canuck label Amp, which apparently is much tougher boss then I thought. On their bare-bones website, under the news about the new rekkid section, TR implore us to “Please buy it or we will be forced to cut our nuts off and feed them to a savage lion.” Yikes! If the genital mutilation of these young rockers in not enough of an incentive for you, then maybe 15 tracks of speedy, New Bomb Turks style punk rock’ll do the trick. Lotsa singalong songs about getting thrown into various medical wards and a neo-new wave bounce await you here, and although I’m kinda hard-pressed to point out the ringer of the bunch, “Mental Ward” sounds like a high school prom hosted by the Misfits, and that’s gotta be fun, right? Yep. Oh, and "Syndrome" is really a Guns N' Roses song in disguise, I just can't figure out which one. This sorta record usually blows right by me, but it made the wife dance, so it’s got it’s charms, no doubt. - Sleaze Grinder

home alone tonight, reading these posts from your secluded seat at the empty bar? That's ok, Thursday nights are Singles nights at Sonic Dissonance

This is what 7" records are all about. Four songs, one crystal clear record, about 6.5 minutes. Beautiful.

First off, you can't really go wrong picking up most 7" records when the band has beer bottles sprinkled all over the cover and names themselves Teenage Rehab. If you're not already thinking punk, then you've never really looked at artwork in the dungy basement of some local hole-in-the-wall record store.

Ok, so Teenage Rehab is from Paducah, Kentucky. Sound familiar, I thought so too and didn't put two and two together until I read the liner notes inside the sleeve. Drummer Alex Reject is the bro of Adam Trash from Middle Class Trash (reviewed & interviewed in 2009).

Much like his brother's band, Teenage Rehab has a very classic punk feel. Think Black Flag crossed with the Ramones. It's brisk and fluid and completely conjures up thoughts and images of what punk rock used to be before everybody and their mother started calling themselves "punk."

I don't think we're talking classics here, but based on the simplicity of this four track record, and the generational sound Teenage Rehab has, it's hard not to like Abuse Your Solution if you're into anything classified as old school punk.

Here's the band's myspace page to get yourself a preview.

Highly recommended.
- Sonic Dissonance

Teenage Rehab are super fast and quite trashy punk rock'n'roll. Sounds a bit like early Lazy Cowgirls on speed meet D.O.A.. Short tracks filled with loud guitar riffs, angry screamy vocal and wild rhythm section. Pure energy, but also here and there a catchy chorus. Cool album. - No Brains Zine - Netherlands

They say on their one sheet that they’re here to save punk from the myriad of crap that has sullied its good name (or something to that effect), and damn if their effort to do so ain’t a valiant one. Five tunes—two up-tempo, three mid-tempo—recalling a lot of the finer moments of punk’s “glory days” while keeping their feet planted firmly in present terra. A rock-solid release that makes me wanna hear more, which is about the best compliment I could possibly level these days. –Jimmy Alvarado (www.jailhouserecords.com) - Razorcake

This is the hottest shit to come out of Kentucky since Wild Turkey! (I haven’t drank that stuff in years but I remember it burns.) Produced by Joe Queer, this careens along like a drunk dog on a hardwood floor (don’t ever try this at home kids.) “Sunday Night Blackout” blasts through at the start of this one, and, really, don’t we all wish we could be hung over on a Monday morning? The boys kick it into high gear for “She Can’t Fuck Me” with a white hot ten second guitar solo tossed in for good measure. “Sick of Your Face” will also be a new crowd pleaser with the punters. Solid stuff, gentlemen. –Sean Koepenick (Jailhouse)
- Razorcake - Different Reviewer

There are some Queerisms to be found here, which makes sense, seeing as Joe King co-produced and Wimpy wrote the lyrics to one of the songs, but that influence manifests less in the usual paint-by-number Ramonesy pop punk sense and more in loud, obnoxious ditties like “She Can’t Fuck Me” and “Pitchburnt Motherfucker.” Still, the band manages to maintain enough of the charm of their previous EP to make this well worth a spin or two. –Jimmy Alvarado (Jailhouse)
- Razorcake

Teenage Rehab – “Lets be Enemies” (Jailhouse! Records) That’s right a new full length release from your favorite Hillbilly cousins from Paducah, KY, Teenage Rehab. This time around “Lets be Enemies” has a slightly tighter sound, produced perfectly, and included some very solid melodies. One thing I’ve noticed about Teenage Rehab that stands apart from many punk bands is the precision they put into the instrumental production. This album is a fine example of the craftsmanship they show. The drums are crisp, the bass lines bounce like Mexican jumping beans, and the guitar action is in-depth, but not overly complex. In this album Teenage Rehab seems to have added some more gang vocals, which is what I think really makes the album sound that much tighter than prior releases. One of my favorite things about Teenage Rehab is that they have a unique sound that doesn’t resemble many other bands, no matter the current punk trend. It’s great to hear a band that isn’t worried about the current punk rock trends and does things their way.

The more I listen the more I realize what a great album this is. The lyrics have an old school punk rock, blue collar feel to them. Blend that together with the upbeat craftsmanship they have with their instruments and you get the best of both worlds poured into a much needed tall frosty glass of Fuck you attitude. Some of the songs I enjoyed the most are; “Fair Fight”, “Anxiety”, “Sick Of Your Face”, & “Voices”, but this is one of those albums with few (if any) flawed songs.
---Johnny Taint - Punk Rock Review