The Hatepinks

I have never been so pleased with the purchase of a nine-minute CD as I have been with the Hatepinks’ (or Les Hatepinks en Français) Tete Malade / Sick in the Head. I decided to invest in this French band’s release after reading a review in skateboard webzine Concrete Disciples, whose only complaint was its short length. For me, that was one of its strengths. Seven songs in nine minutes! A single Mars Volta song could eat this CD alive!

From the first 30 seconds of the first song, “Sexual Liberation Is for Animals,” it’s pretty apparent as to what will follow in Tete Malade / Sick in the Head. Garage punk (“Tete Malade / Sick in the Head”) flirting with a `77 sound (“In the Front”) and trashy rock and roll / rockabilly (“Sweep the Shit”) makes up the majority of the Hatepinks sound. Think basically a less refined or lyrically engaging version of the Briefs with incredibly short and nonsensical songs. The lyrics of the title track, "Tete Malade / Sick in the Head" are dwarfed by the title itself, as the lyrics are made up entirely of: "Bim bam boom bam hooo." The hilarious titles of “Should I Kill Myself or Go Jogging?,” “My City Is Sick of Pizza,” and “Your Ass Is a Stereotype” are complemented by equally silly lyrics which usually include a short verse followed by the name of the song in the chorus.

Interestingly, the TKO release of Tete Malade / Sick in the Head, while being sung in English, appears in the lyrics booklet in French. Therefore the lyrics for “Your Ass Is a Stereotype” appear as "Élargis ton pénis / Perds du poids / Soyons des amis Internet / Ton cul donne envie de vomir sur toi" (I’m sure you can get the jist of that!).

The great thing about the Hatepinks is that you won’t find many bands doing punk quite like this anymore. Brash, energetic, clever, and concise, Tete Malade / Sick in the Head is a real trip…a trip to the grocery store or to class or to the skate park…as long as the trip doesn’t take longer than ten minutes.