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COOL JERKS :
THIS IS IT / WIR BEATEN MEHR

The Cool Jerks (gotta love that name) are three cool cats from Bremen Germany, and should not be confused in any way, shape, or form with these dorky Cool Jerks from Silicon Valley or these Garage Rockin' Cool Jerks from Memphis. The Bremen Cool Jerks are immersed in the whole retro '60s Beat-Rock / Garage Rock / Mod scene. It defines their sound, as well as their image. These guys play "totally insane German Beatpunk", or for those unfamiliar with that sound, try to imagine a mix of early '60s Rock, Beatleesque harmonies, some Ramones-isms, and dashes of Garage Rock in the vein of modern bands such as The Stokes, The Vines, and The Hives. Oh, and they also through in moments of Surf guitar for good measure. These are the band's first two full-length albums. The first, "This Is It", features 14 tracks, most are in English, but German wins out on three of them. The second album, "Wir Beaten Mehr", (which translates roughly to "We Beat More"... that's Beat or "Beaten" as in Beat-Rock) has 15 tracks all in German, well, except for three of them which are instrumental tracks that is. This first platter is available on CD and LP, while WBM is a vinyl only release. For me, I personally like the first one better, not because I have a problem with German lyrics, but because it's a little harder edged, has more attitude, and is a bit more up-tempo. WBM is also good, but some of the harder Garage elements that are found on the first, seem to be toned down here. The sound is a bit more polished and smooth. That doesn't mean that WBM doesn't have its moments. For example, how often have you sat there and thought to yourself, "man I wish I had a '60s Beat-Rock version of the Rembrants theme from Friends, "I'll Be There For You", sung totally in German"? I know I personally have lost many a night's sleep worrying about this very thing, and have woken up in cold sweats, pounding my pillow with clenched fists and screaming into the darkness "when God, when you cruel bastard when"! Well, we can all now rest at ease, and I can stop taking fist-fulls of Prozac every morning, because on WBM we have "Ich bin Da Fur Dich" which is the answer to all our prayers. And hey, if you needed a German Beat-Rock version of "My Mind's Eye" by the Small Faces, well then "Das Ist Mein Alltag" is for you! All in all, these are some damn cool records, and I guarantee they'll make you an instant hit when you pull them off your shelf at your next party.
RATING = 8 / 7 60s Beat-Rock (Released 2003 / 2004)

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COOL JERKS / THE WAISTCOATS :
INTERNATIONAL SPLIT SERIES VOL. 1 – 7"

Here's an interesting little 7" for ya. Germany's Soundflat Records (which deals in 60s Beat and Garage-Rock) is now launching a unique series of split-singles, where two bands from different countries play songs in the language of the other band! How anyone can sing in a language that is not their own is beyond me... As you probably assumed from the title, this is the first of the series, and pits Germany's "Cool Jerks" against the Netherlands's "Waistcoats". So we get four cuts. The Dutch lads do a little something called "Alles Was Ich Hab" (which translates to Everything That I Have, or All I Posses, or something like that) which is pretty catchy. Then they do a Burt Bacharach cover! That's right, I said Burt freakin' Bacharach, I kid you not! They have managed to Germanize "Downhill And Shady" (from the classic "What's New, Pussycat?" soundtrack) and it is now entitled "Abwarts Und Schattig". You definitely gotta hear this one, strange yet oddly compelling. Next up are the German boys redoing one of their older songs in Dutch, "Over En Uit", and then they pump out a Surf semi-instrumental loaded with Dutch cuss words, which they call "Bikini Zone"! It all adds up to an interesting spin, but unless you're a fan of either of these bands already, I don't see a whole lot of repeat visits happening. Great conversation piece though. The Cool Jerks don't have a web page, but the Waistcoats can be found at waistcoats.org.
RATING = 6.5 60s Beat-Rock (Released 2004)

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