In the vast ocean of punk rock, one band always stood out to me and holds a very special place in my heart. I can recall the first time I heard Sloppy Seconds. My friend Jay had a cassette tape of their 1987 Album "The first seven inches....and then some". I didn’t know what to expect as he hit play. Moments later a snotty, whinny scream came out of the speakers proclaiming, "I'M SO FUCKED UP”. This was followed by grinding guitars ripping through the airwaves with a rock and roll riff salted with aggression and distortion. The song proceeds with the lyrics, "Let's have a party at my place, and have way too much to drink, SO FUCKED UP, we'll mix lunch with Ever clear punch, and we can throw up in the sink, SO FUCKED UP.”
I was hooked immediately. The rest of the album completely floored me. I made a copy of my friend's cassette and almost burned my walkman out playing it on repeat. Sloppy Seconds coined the term "Junk Rock" as their musical genre. As my Sloppy Seconds album collection increased, I was exposed to songs about comic books, politics, the reality of the human condition, cartoons, lesbians, pizza delivery, booze and drugs. They even delighted me with some John Denver and Sammy Davis Jr. covers. All of these songs are sung with a nasal growl, interspersed with screaming, singing, and lyrical riffing on top of a punk rock backdrop littered with talented bass lines, guitar licks, and catchy rock and roll guitar riffs.
I bought the Sloppy Seconds album "Knock Yer Block Off" in 1993 shortly after it was released. I remember the album art. It was yellow and had two knock 'em sock 'em robots on the cover. I remember liking one or two songs on the album, but feeling mostly disappointed by it. It sounded a lot more mellow and less aggressive than their previous material. Over time, it's grown to be one of my favorite Sloppy Seconds albums, for all of the same reasons that I love most of the music they produce.
Whenever I listen to music, I hear the lyrics. I know that not everyone listens to the lyrics the first time they hear a song, but I’m obsessed with words and lyrics. Words are powerful. When individuals have the ability to articulate themselves using an arsenal of literary techniques, and cleaver word placement, it adds color and context to a sentiment that would otherwise be boring. Here's an example:
"Friends are for keeps,
And I'm afraid that all your talk is cheap
But not for me
cause I bought all your lines
But they belong on old valentines
You bought for me"
The sheer number of literary techniques in this small excerpt from the song "The Kids are All Drunk" is baffling. This is the lyrical genius of BA and Sloppy Seconds.
Sloppy Seconds captures the barbaric, immature, reflexive nature of humanity, and wraps it in a punk rock song, singing about topics that most wouldn't dare to touch with a ten-foot pole. Their song "Let Me See Your Drivers License" is a song about determining if a woman you meet is of legal age to date. Pedophilia is horrible, and is not a joking matter. However, in this song, they take on a topic that many men are familiar with. Sloppy Seconds sits in this uncomfortable moment for the entirety of this song while offhandedly expressing responsibility for doing the right thing.
Another song, called "Your Sister" is about having sexual desires towards your friend's sister. Is this a disturbing topic for a song? Yes, sure it is. However, is this something that never happens? No, it happens all the time, but it's not something people want to talk about, because it's taboo, but Sloppy Seconds will put you in the midst of this scenario for 1.5 minutes with lyrics like "Hey man, I wanna see her naked". This might make some people squeamish, but you can't blame Sloppy Seconds for shining a light on the human condition.
There isn't an uncomfortable thought, scenario, or topic that Sloppy Seconds is not willing to make a listener stew in and really think about. Long live the junk rock kings!
