Heading outta Portland, this isn’t the first rodeo for these cheeky monkeys. Anyone whos been paying the slightest of attentions will know we’ve long been admirers of Lovesores, Scott ‘Deluxe’ Drake, and a bunch of other cool projects like the Humpers and Vice Principles well they are all now consigned to the history books because The Guerrilla Teens is where its at right here right now and ‘Monkeys PAw’ is their latest offering to the Rock n Roll Gods of all things punk rock n roll and Garage Rock in all the fine traditions of turning up those amps and cranking out some damn fine Rock n Roll at ear splitting levels and turning out insanely catchy ditties that are as addictive as a crack sandwich. They might just be Portland’s finest export to the world, and as the artwork says, it’s Real and Magic!

The Guerrilla Teens don’t over-exert themselves nor do they break new ground, but what they do is pour out their collective rock n roll hearts into the music they make and pour it all over these here digital airwaves and into our ears and for that we should all be grateful. From the first airing of ‘I Cyclopse’ you know what to expect and you also know Guerrilla Teens won’t let you down or keep you hanging. Well, let me introduce you to ten fine slabs of loud Rock n Roll, it’s got swing, and there is no finer example than ‘My Hometown’ where they just kick out the jams around a whole chunk of Chuck Berry licks and take the sucker home swinging from tree to tree with a cool melody and a big cheeky grin – wonderful stuff.

They don’t attempt anything outside of their comfort zone and generally just press the accelerator on cool tunes be it the cock sure strut of ‘Do Not Disturb’ or the insane groove of the title track ‘Monkeys Paw’ where Drake is the confident circus master calling the shots with his growl n sleazy style we all know and love him for.

These guys don’t grow old gracefully, they sound like they’re spoiling for a fight and ‘Bright As The Sun’ is sharp and the guitars are on fire as the rhythm is marching to war with a real swagger, an epic song found in the middle of the pack that’s swinging like the king of the jungle it is. But hell, hot on the heels is ‘Johnny On The Mainline’ with its rapid energy steaming down the track.

Hang on, ‘Sleepwalker’ is out of the traps with a menacing, brooding opening before sounding like a serial killer’s soundtrack, twisting and turning as the tempo raises but not too much before dropping back into the menacing groove towards the awesome solo that soars, taking the song somewhere special. But wait, the records on its last number,r how did that happen? ‘King Of The Savana’ takes this bad boy home and what a way to sign off. They might just have saved the best till last, borrowing a riff from here or there, the Teens get nasty with some coolly placed keys filling the sound out to the max on what might just turn out to be the Teens’ finest piece of music thus far. Who says Rock n Roll is dead, because on this evidence it’s alive and kicking, and on this planet of the apes, the Guerrilla Teens are kings of the jungle and indeed pride of the savanna. Don’t monkey around, just go get this record, it will improve your collection ten fold.

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