by Mark Wadley (@markplasma)
Unfazed by the pressure of maintaining their hometown rep, Detroit punks The Stools come careening out of the long shadows cast by forebears like the Stooges and the Gories with “Stare Scared,” the first taste of their debut album R U Saved?, out June 2 on Feel It Records (the most relevant punk label going today). Hot on the heels of a series of EPs and singles on Drunken Sailor, Goodbye Boozy, Third Man and Big Neck, R U Saved? is the Stools’ best offering to date, a raw, tightly-wound blitz of unpretentious garage punk. Drawing as much from Estrus and Goner Records’ 1990s output as any seminal Detroit act, it’s a powerful iteration on a familiar sound overdue for a comeback (insert Jeffrey Evans reference here).
“Stare Scared” is a killer introduction to the Stools’ bleary brand of aggro blues, a stomping rave-up featuring guitarist Will Lorenz’s piss and vinegar vocal delivery and the relentless rhythm section of bassist Krystian Quint and drummer Charles Stahl. The Gories are here, sure, but so are Cheater Slicks and the Reatards and Coachwhips and all their friends. It’s an ideal album opener, capturing the feeling of walking into a bar just as the band’s starting to play, the insistent drum intro propelling you through that first shot of bourbon and straight into the pit for a good night of making bad decisions.