Cougars - Nice, Nice
(Go Kart)
Cougars are huge and have big huge balls. They are a giant band that rock hard and heavy. Eight surly roughnecks, slinging guitars, drums, keys, horns, the whole shebang. Clearly influenced by old fashioned hardcore, but not limited by that category's restraints, Cougars hit it hard like in the glory days of Amphetamine Reptile records, like Unsane, back when nothing was tougher than a vanload of angry Midwesterners in baseball caps with guitars. Cougars' take on the formula include colorful keyboard flourishes and brassy horns down in the mix, which make the whole affair a bit more slick, and bit less ugly.
"Close to Fast, Loud & Big" opens the record like a countdown to detonation. Muted guitar chug bides time over impatient drumming, and then, bam! The guitars open up, the horns blast, and the singer shouts "Don't fuck with me, boy!" From here on out it's pedal to the metal, balls to the wall—however you want to put it, its full on, thick and heavy. "Mustard is Pissed," perhaps the strongest track, deviates a bit with a nice stop/start riff, nasty keyboard buzz, and a break from the nearly claustrophobic density of the other tracks. "Michigan Sharkey" almost feels like they might take a breather, as the guitars strum instead of bludgeon the riff, and a keyboard counterpoint becomes audible, but the vocalist only has one setting—bellow—and, ultimately the band is too tightly wound to take it easy for long.
Bands like this serve an important function in these days' electro-dance-punk and ever increasing trend-spotting. The Cougars are flying their pure rock flag and making a manifesto out of their exclamation "We're here to rock and roll!" Sometimes what you need is to dumb it down, turn it up and get it on.
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