Straight to VHS
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Straight to VHS

New London, Connecticut, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2009 | SELF

New London, Connecticut, United States | SELF
Established on Jan, 2009
Band Rock Garage Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"review of "RewindeR" die hipster records [Jeffrey Thunders]"

“Let me out, Let me out of this town” opens up “Rewinder” by New London garage punks. After a crunchy, fuzzy guitar intro singer/guitarist Jon Young screams that line that most suburban heartbroken kids can relate to. ” Don’t call it love” its a song about a love gone wrong and a girl who has lied. The second track starts out like something The Thermals would do and keeps in that lo-fi garage/punk sound that i love with “Untitled”. ” It’s not the money” sounds like something from Black Flag’s ” The first four years” record when Keith Morris was still in the band. Complete with a nice drums and bass breakdown. ” Yea, shutup” slides more into the “Slip in in” area of Black Flag. Great intro in this song. Classic old hardcore/punk guitar riff but staying within the that garage sound that makes this band so good. Deeper into the record is “Patchwork city”. This is the song that drew me into this album ( the band released it earlier as a single). This song is pure garage/punk bliss from the sound of the vocals to the drum rolls to lyrics that seem like the band just wants to go out and have a good time. “One thing” has the catchy “whoa’s” with a beat that will make you get up and dance. After what sounds something like Jay Reatard mixed with early to mid 1990’s Sub Pop with the song “Stuck in transit” “Rewinder ends with “Your face” a song that builds up and hits you with pop sensibility mixed with that pretty basement sound and just may give you a peek inside what has happened in the two year hiatus Straight to VHS has taken. All the songs on “Rewinder” are around the two minute mark and each song leaves you wanting more. The band has been through alot in the past and its nice to see they are back making great garage music. If you like stuff like The Kinks, Jay Reatard, The Thermals, and maybe even The Cramps this record is for you.
-Jeffrey Thunders via jeffreythunders.tumblr.com - die hipster records


"review of "RewindeR" Max Mercy of Mexican-Robots.com"

February 13, 2013
Straight to VHS – “RewindeR”People who think of Connecticut solely as a state full of country clubs and gold-lined streets have never been to New London. And anybody who’s wondering where the spirit of punk-rock is these days can find it there.

While listening to “Rewinder,” I smelled stale beer and sweat. I felt concrete under my sneakers. I saw dive bars and littered parking lots and empty strip malls. Suburbia after nightfall.

Stylistically, Straight to VHS makes use of early punk templates and can resemble pioneer groups like the Sex Pistols and the Wipers. Their production standards are relatively high for garagerock so I can understand the Jay Reatard comparisons. They’re working within the form, keeping the rough edges and apathetic attitude but it’s obvious they care how the sound comes across. They’re craftsmen.

At just over 20 minutes, the album is a sonic roller coaster ride with one song cascading into the next. The standout track that represents the whole experience is “patchwork city.” In the red vocals, sweet bass doodles, a chorus that turns the groove of the verses on its head and guitar with enough crunch to chip a tooth. The count-in alone is beautifully rock and roll.

Yup, the spirit of punk is alive. I’m not sure if it’s well but when has it ever been? One thing’s for sure: it takes equal amounts pain and love to play this kind of music. -Max Mercy of Mexican-Robots.com - Mexican-Robots.com


"review of "self titled" New Haven Advocate [ Brian Larue ]"

“There’s something almost intangibly arresting about the defiantly scuzzy, 11-minute, five-song debut EP from this New London garage rock trio, something that glimmers through the bare-bones songwriting, rough-edged (at times flat-out sloppy) musicianship and bargain-basement production values. In fact, in a certain light, the raw, urgent spirit Straight to VHS exude increases in power when they’re at their wildest and least professional: the chorus of “Hey,” which is actually just a quick, shouted, “HEY!” The bit on “Self-Titled” that probably should be a chorus, but instead remains a frantic ascending/descending chord progression. The disproportionately loud overdubbed power-chord that ends that song. The mere fact that they named one of their songs “Self Titled.” The many times when it sounds like the members of the rhythm section are falling over each other. This stuff swaggers and staggers, and it’s likely to engross people who like their rock music loud, sweaty, grimy and simple. Why, exactly? I dunno; rock ’n’ roll’s magic that way.” - New Haven Advocate [ Brian Larue ] - New Haven Advocate


"review of "self titled" New Haven Advocate [ Brian Larue ]"

“There’s something almost intangibly arresting about the defiantly scuzzy, 11-minute, five-song debut EP from this New London garage rock trio, something that glimmers through the bare-bones songwriting, rough-edged (at times flat-out sloppy) musicianship and bargain-basement production values. In fact, in a certain light, the raw, urgent spirit Straight to VHS exude increases in power when they’re at their wildest and least professional: the chorus of “Hey,” which is actually just a quick, shouted, “HEY!” The bit on “Self-Titled” that probably should be a chorus, but instead remains a frantic ascending/descending chord progression. The disproportionately loud overdubbed power-chord that ends that song. The mere fact that they named one of their songs “Self Titled.” The many times when it sounds like the members of the rhythm section are falling over each other. This stuff swaggers and staggers, and it’s likely to engross people who like their rock music loud, sweaty, grimy and simple. Why, exactly? I dunno; rock ’n’ roll’s magic that way.” - New Haven Advocate [ Brian Larue ] - New Haven Advocate


"review of "self titled" The Big Takeover Dec.’10 Edition [ jack rabid]"

“It used to be that too few bands sounded like The Wipers—other than Hot Snakes and early Nirvana—but like Ready the Destroyer, StV has Greg Sage’s unrelenting riffage prowess in spades on this five-song debut EP produced by Fatal Film’s Matt Potter. Having also rocked Cosmodemonic’s double-CD Powers New London, CT sampler harder than any band this side of 30-year vets The Reducers, the trio bust a fuzzy, sweaty garage punk with nasty bass in an early punk-ish attack, with 70’s Detroit tough guy vocals. It’s only five songs in 11-and-a-half minutes, but its rough and ready, full of piss, vinegar, and vigor, ripping it up like an update on The MC5’s “American Ruse.” And like an MC5, Radio Birdman, early Damned, or Wipers record, when they chant “Hey” every few seconds, you chant with them, fist in the air. - The Big Takeover Dec.’10 Edition – The Big Takeover [ JACK RABID ] - The Big Takeover


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

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Bio

Straight to VHS is a garage rock trio comprised of Jon Young, Jay Silva, and Tim Donnel, whose melodic chorus hooks and adrenaline filled, teeth-kicking rock, mirrors the spirit of their gritty yet beautiful hometown of New London, CT. As music reviewer Max Mercy, of Mexican-Robots.com, says, People who think of Connecticut solely as a state full of country clubs and gold-lined streets have never been to New London. And anybody whose wondering where the spirit of punk-rock is these days can find it there. While listening to [Straight to VHS] I smelled stale beer and sweat. I felt concrete under my sneakers. I saw dive bars and littered parking lots and empty strip malls. Suburbia after nightfall.

In 2010 and 2011, Straight to VHS were recognized by the New London music awards show, The Whalie Awards, taking home the award for Best Alternative Performance for their song Patchwork City and Record of the Year for their EP Self-Titled. In 2012, the New London Day (newspaper) featured the brief but stormy history of Straight to VHS in a four part video series celebrating the release of the band's first full-length album, Rewinder. Rewinder earned the band an impressive three Whalie awards: Best Indie Rock Band, Best Indie Rock Performance, and Rock/Pop Album of the Year, making the band the winningest artist in Whalie history. The album has since drawn comparisons to the work of the Sex Pistols, The Wipers, The Kinks, MC5, and early 90s Sub Pop. VHS plans to release their third album, Weekend Weekend Weekend, in the summer of 2014.

CT Indie writes of Straight to VHS: "I find myself revisiting this one whenever I need a good shot in the arm, its just as good as black coffee. The whole thing just sounds perfectly unwashed and covered with grime, just like those jeans youve had hanging in the closet since 1993"

Band Members