Track Review: Potty Mouth – “Damage”

It’s a nine mile drive from Potty Mouth’s hometown, Northampton, Massachusetts, to Amherst. And you know, they sound the part. Last year’s Sun Damage EP showed wisps of blistering Mascis-ian punk, something brought to the surface on the first single “Damage” from from the band’s forthcoming full length. Shades of Superchunk’s caffeinated indie rock color mid-90s Kill Rock Stars riffs, and singer Abby Weems’ vocal delivery hits a mark somewhere between Lou Barlow’s stoned melodicisms and Alison Crutchfield’s passionate turns on last year’s Swearin’ record. Like all those mentioned, Weems’ lyrics take a backseat to the sea of crash cymbals and power chords, but she has a knack for throwing together enough of these little impressionistic phrases over her near-the-breaking-point vocals to lend a pathos that the laconic drawls of their heroes often lacked. All that bandname-dropping to say that Potty Mouth make meat and potatoes ‘90s-influenced indie rock, and given that they hail from one of its hotbeds — and only nine miles from the home of one of its legends — that should really come as no surprise.