Smoke Free Home “Reburns” 2025. Tsurumi Records, limited edition (?) colored vinyl 7″ single. Smoke Free Home, from Oshkosh, are one of my favorite current young punk bands from Wisconsin. We caught their set at a Battle of the Bands this past weekend at Falcon Bowl in Riverwest (Milwaukee). I don’t know if they won (they absolutely should have) but we definitely voted for them. Fast, clever, all low end (the lineup is Jesse on vocals, Kevin on bass, Alex on drums), young and FUN, their performance was raucously captivating. A huge love-filled pit of kids dancing their asses off. Aside from two or three other couples (probably parents or >shudder< grandparents of some of the other local bands), we were hands-down some of the oldest people there. No matter, everyone was cool aka they all ignored us. I’m fairly certain they played  both “Fast Hands” and possibly the flipside “Broken Toe.” Their Bandcamp page says about the single “Two fan-favorite tracks from our first release re-recorded…” the tracks appear on their 2021 self-titled EP, though “Fast Hands” is titled “Blue Hands” on the earlier release. Both versions are great!

I wasn’t able to find any live videos of either song so here’s another performance of one my favorite of theirs:

The Hollywood Brats “Hollywood Brats” 1973/1980. Cherry Red Records. Glam rock/protopunk from the UK (and sometimes credited as the UK’s first punk band), originally recorded in 1974 for NEMS Records but the label refused to release it. The band formed in ’71 as The Queen, changed their name, added a guitarist in ’72 (recruited through an advertisement in Melody Maker for a guitarist “drunk on scotch and Keith Richards”) and then disbanded in ’74 after being boo’d offstage and kicked off their label. The Brats performances have been described as raunchy, flamboyant and meant to “to annoy and disturb.” Contemporaries of and very similar to New York Dolls musically and with nihilistic tendencies like The Stooges and other US hooligans, the band leaned into shaking things up and being obnoxious. Singer Andrew Matheson “hobnobbed with (and stole from) Cliff Richard, punched a young Freddie Mercury in the mouth for having the temerity to call his band Queen (before renaming themselves, The Hollywood Brats were The Queen), and managed to alienate every record company that came sniffing. Even when his band was thrown a lifeline, Matheson managed to torpedo it. In 1974, Mick Jones, not yet of The Clash, introduced him to an eager Malcolm McLaren, convinced the Brats might just be on to something. Matheson considered McLaren a man of no substance, and sent him packing. McLaren had to settle for signing The Sex Pistols instead.” Reportedly The Who’s Keith Moon said they were the best band he had ever seen.

Hollywood Brats is snotty, glammy, hard rock and hilarious. The track “Sick on You” is about a man so tired of his girlfriend’s actions that he wants to vomit on her. Their cover of  the Phil Spector penned and The Crystals performed classic “Then He Kissed Me” is dripping with punk sarcasm. The Brats continue to foreshadow the Ramones’ sound which evolved 50’s/60’s pop into a punk sound (“Zurich 17“) while “Tumble With Me” flips the narrative to the chaste “Wake Up Little Susie” (Everly Brothers ’57) and asks her, point blank, to enjoy herself and take a tumble. It probably had those early 70’s record execs clutching their pearls. Other tracks lament the irritations of youth like “Another Schoolday” (it’s sooo good!).

Starjets “God Bless Starjets” 1979. Power pop from Northern Ireland. The image is blurry because I had to keep the original Jem Records import sticker/shinkwrap on the album. God Bless Starjets was their first and only LP release, though they did have a whole bunch of singles from 1978-1980. I know nothing about the band, and there’s not much on the internet either, so here’s some info from Discogs:

They were formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1976 by guitarist – lead vocalist Terry Sharpe, guitarist Paul Bowen, bassist Sean Martin and drummer Liam L’Estrange. They were signed at Epic by Muff Winwood where they released one album in 1979 and a bunch of singles with “War Stories” being their biggest hit (No.51 in the U.K. charts in 1979). They supported Bay City Rollers and Stiff Little Fingers and because of their amiable style they were labelled “the Bay City Rollers of punk”. After their album failed to chart, Paul Bowen left the group and they changed their name to Tango Brigade adding guitarist Pat Gribben in their line up. After one single at Epic in 1981, Tango Brigade disbanded due to musical differences and Terry Sharpewith Pat Gribben formed The Adventures in 1983 and Sean Martin joined Jake Burns And The Big Wheel.

God Bless Starjets is power-pop lite; the quote above about the Bay City Rollers totally checks. Beach Boy-esque harmonies and sweet poppy melodies. The single “War Stories” is one of the “power” ie harder tracks and also one of my top picks, as are “Schooldays” and “Sitting on Top of the World.” Both have some anthemic moments, t00. There are sounds similar to some of their UK contemporaries, too: “I’m So Glad” is super similar to Elvis Costello and “War Is Over” rings of The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers. There is a bit of (unintentional?) silliness on this record as well: “Smart Boys,” which about the band themselves, is pretty ridiculous.