by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
It could (and should) be noted that Rotary Club are most certainly the world’s favorite landline themed telephone punk band. Hailing from Reno, Nevada, the band make KBD influenced rippers, balancing massive hooks and catchy melodies with reckless distortion, toppling drums, and a readily apparent grit. Their songs shred and decimate but not without their mesmerizing jangle. After releasing their debut cassette, the band soon joined together with the great Iron Lung Records (Electric Chair, Clarko, Shrinkwrap Killers), working together to release the American Tower 7”, a blistering pair of rattled punk songs with quick and dirty solos, unstoppable tempos, and shout along vocals. While we eagerly await more music from the quartet (who go by the names of Operator, Dial Tone, Speed Dial, and Hotline, just in case you were worried about their commitment), Rotary Club will be playing a pair of shows next month in the Bay Area, making stops in Oakland and San Francisco.
Hold the phone! In celebration of their California trip, the band are sharing a music video for “American Tower,” a raw live clip that features plenty of landline action. The band, adorned in matching jumpsuits, tear into the song accompanied by telephone towers, pay phones, handsets, and delightfully curly phone cords (because cordless is for chumps). Captured with a fish eyed lens, it’s great to see the band in action, their sweet and spiky punk onslaught performed with an unflinching sense of cohesion. Rotary Club mix a borderline campy sense of humor with tightly wound abandon, jumping between riffs, sprawling deeper into the rock ‘n’ scuzz with every stop and start of rhythm.
