Search - Smears :: Love Is for Suckers

Love is fer suckers

Erica Anderson | Minneapolis, MN | 05/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the mid 1990s, I was a raging punk fan. I just ate up anything that I would come across after I read about it in punk 'zines like Flipside and Maxium Rock 'n Roll. One of my personal favorite punk bands I read about in Flipside was The Smears. During the '90s, I was a big fan of bands like L7 and Babes in Toyland so I tried to find bands similiar to them. The Smears definitely reminded me of those two bands. "Love is fer Suckers" is the band's debut album. It is everything that punk music should be raw and abrasive. The production is pretty awful, especially on "I Don't Get It" but I can forgive the band for it. The band captured the angst and rebellious nature that made the punk genre so great. The musicality of the band may not be polished but there is a nice loose sound that just can't be heard in the likes of punk poseurs Good Charlotte and their ilk. The Smears' music may not possess the infectious hooks of their modern peers but you can still hear that a good deal of melody in their songs. I definitely can hear a lot of Babes in Toyland in The Smears' songs, lots of distorted guitars and maybe some of Kat Bjelland in both Gretchen and Kathleen's vocals. "Love is fer Suckers" may be plagued with bad production but overall it is a good solid punk album."