There always seemed to be something fake about SKATERS, from their all-caps name on down (at least they didn’t use an “8”…). The ‘new group’ was actually formed by two members of the now-defunct Dead Trees. Their SXSW appearance (QRO photos) seemed like The Strokes redux. They traffic in Brooklyn garage, a sound that’s hardly brand new – and the group comes from Manhattan (not to mention debuting on major label Warner Brothers). But fake it ‘til you make it, and they make it (more or less) on debut full-length Manhattan.
At first, Manhattan seems like another garage-rock record, and there are certainly songs that would fit in that description, like garage-procession “One of Us” and garage-sway “Miss Teen Massachusetts” to start. But there are also moments of something more, moments of something less, and moments of something else. Third track “Deadbolt” stands out thanks to its pressure, which makes it work in both dark and party parts. Meanwhile, “To Be Young In NYC” feels like a simplistic garage song about a girl (and its introduction, a recording of some shallow-sounding girls talking about sublets, doesn’t add to the number). Oh, and there are also two pieces where SKATERS go reggae, “Band Breaker” and “Fear of the Knife”, and they are nice like reggae is nice.
Manhattan doesn’t completely shake the feelings of less-than-real from SKATERS: “I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How)” sounds like someone’s idea of an early Arctic Monkeys song, while closer “This Much I Care” is preceded by a recording of the band talking to a ‘wacky cabbie’ (who sounds like John C. Reilly doing a comic ethnic character), who refers to both him & them as “two guys working” – sorry, but any NYC cabbie is working a lot harder than any band that takes cabs in NYC (on the one hand they accept that complimentary comparison; on the other they laugh at the cabbie and put the recording on the record). But getting past that, there are some good songs and some good times to be had on Manhattan (and kudos for the group acknowledging exactly where they come from).
SKATERS – Deadbolt
