With members originally from DC but now stationed in San Francisco, The Quails bring us urgent catchy political punk complete with grrrl vocals, moments of 80s punk roots, and an ornately played fuzz bass. Sometimes dancy, sometimes dense, and always politically minded, this is some hot shit! I have to say that it took me a couple of listens to get into it because I’m really picky about melodic vocals over punk riffs, but once I felt it I found a fantastic rock energy! Think also of Sleater-Kinney and Erase Errata, a member of which recorded their last album. There a lot of great songs here but... 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12.

1. starts quiet w/ great shouts, then rocks out. ridiculously catchy.
2. catchy guitar hook, almost dancy, then rocks out.
3. super rockin’ verse with accents, noisy guitar, boy/girl vox
4. hard slow-midtempo groove, noisy repetitive guitar riff. great!
5. upbeat, playful, and dancy. intro- i’m hearing joy division.
6. very cool bass/guitar riff interplay, so good!
7. acoustic country swing about war
8. upbeat, meant to be catchy but doesn’t quite do it for me
9. catchy upbeat punk with straight up riffs and good breaks
10. midtempo 80s girl punk sound, nice pulsing middle section
11. straight up rock riff, hard and rockin’
12. great gang of four funky groove over noisy guitar
13. nice intro, and a great middle section going thru different catchy riffs. ends at about -1:25.
14. midtempo sludgy w/ male vox. FCC but great anthemic chorus!