The Resistors are a band of 40-and-above punk rockers from Columbus, Indiana who are allegedly influenced by Circle Jerks, Zero Boys, Black Flag, Minor Threat and D.O.A.
I hear more Dead Milkmen, Angry Samoans or, I donnoâ¦Atom and His Package?
The point is, this band is goofy. Sometimes it's clear that was their intention ("Nympho," "Criminally Insane"), and sometimes it's just an unfortunate byproduct of their songwriting and delivery ("Andropov's Assassins," "Wrong Again").
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes the Resistors so hard to take seriously. The vocals of singer Warsau Joe certainly do breathe forth with the spitty, motorbike snarl of Joey Shithead, that with the rough, sloppy approach of the band adds a novel aesthetic to the final package. But it's more the concepts behind the music that leave behind either cringes or head scratches, such as the woe-begotten tale "Hacienda," complete with faux-Mexican guitar playing and equally ridiculous lyrics: "Well I come home from work to a bitchy wife / Five freaking kids, they're not mine / Well they make me wanna go out and buy some wine / At the haci-iiieeennndaa." The same is true of "Andropov's Assasins: "We're not communist / Communists, they suck / We could be anarchist / I know we're sitting ducks / I don't wanna die, do you? / I don't wanna fry, for we're through." Then there's the horribly awkward "Nympho," sexually charged and compounded by the fact these guys are in their forties, complete with explicit female moaning and predictable innuendo. There are times when Warsau Joe's timing and vocal emphases seem somewhat reminiscent of the Low Budgets' and Dead Milkmen's Joe Jack Talcum, but the lyrics lack the comic observations and outsider's insight to be quite as effective.
There are more bearable moments, though. The band's take on P.F. Sloan's "Eve of Destruction" is actually pulled off fairly well, thanks to more subtle vocals, and, well, professional songwriting. The topical themes of "Take Me to War" and "Dictator States of America" aren't entirely unwarranted for an album released in 2007, and "Climbing the Walls" is a bonafide old school-sounding excursion that doesn't suffer some of the same pitfalls as its fellow tracks.
At the very bottom of the Resistors' impressive homepage is somewhat of a caveat: "For a Punk band whose members are all in their 40's, we think you'll find us entertaining." And honestly, it's hard to argue with that. Because even if the Resistors aren't reinventing punk rock, they're clearly having a good time and probably making all the other boring 40-something suits, dads, squares and "Old Man's" jealous in the process. Livin' the dream and doing it how you wantâ¦that's what punk is all about.