Dead on TV – Creeper

Dead on TV
Creeper
Independent
★★★

Dead on TV’s Creeper was recommended to me, and upon digging through their Bandcamp page, I was instantly sold. This Chicago outfit has the hooks and pulls that lean more toward a West Coast punk vibe than a blue-collar Midwestern punk attitude, but that’s okay. The album is highly entertaining and worth the purchase through the site.

Six songs total, the album moves pretty quick. The title track is definitely the highlight and is our first taste of the instant gratification this band professes. So you admit that you are kind of creepy and stalkerish with spitfire rhythms and top notch tempo speeds. Nice.

“Pour Your Heart Out” is the peak of their musicianship in this, making it feel like you stumbled on a lost Hot Water Music hit. The music is snappy and vocal undertones are kind of dirty. The product is not a polished release, which is a good thing as it veers slightly right of candy-coated pop punk. The album is indeed rough around the edges and an arrogance that blows through these songs. Call it confidence, call it defiance, the album does not really care what you think because being embedded in a sense of Midwestern lifestyle Creeper takes on a mind of its own.

By the time they reach to “I’m Easy,” it’s as angry of punk as I’ve heard. A great exodus, after a song like this, there is nothing that will get in their way.