One Man Army Sounds An Alarm

As the first EP since the band broke up in 2005, She's An Alarm doesn't sound anything like the San Francisco-based punk band One Man Army. But that might not be a bad thing after seven years.

In fact, the difference is stark enough that some people will wonder if the once throaty Jack Dalrymple is part of the lineup. It is all Dalrymple, reshaped after his experiences in other bands like Dead To Me, Swingin' Utters, Re-volts, and U.S. Bombs.

This time out his vocals are crisp, clean, and more melodic than the haughty aggression of a younger One Man Army. The same can be said for two other familiar faces. 

Brandon Pollack and Heiko Schrepel are both back. Pollack was part of the original One Man Army lineup on drums and Schrepel, who had replaced James Kotter, played bass until the breakup in 2005. While the sound is completely different, the kinship between them is all intact.

She's An Alarm - EP packs in more garage rock than punk. 

The release is a three-fold win for anyone who followed the band before. As part of their new deal with Adeline Records, the homecoming included a re-release of their first two albums as well as the new EP.

The first track to pick up off the 4-track She's An Alarm is I.T.I.A.L.S. Dalrymple comes in more tense than strained, delivering the vocals more effortlessly than he has ever before in his career. Some might even wonder where he has been hiding his pipes given he had been mostly sticking to guitar and bass since the split.

I.T.I.A.L.S. does a solid job putting down the new sound with breaking guitars and catchy builds. It reminds me that they were once considered the hardest working band of their time, married to punk but always able to diversify their sound as it suited them. It's always been that way for Dalrymple.

Look up any past interview, and you'll find the same answers. All he has ever wanted to do is write good songs, play good shows, and get better at doing the only thing he does — play music. The only thing that changes is who he plays with to do it. 

One the second track, Plastique, there is more distort turned up on Dalrymple voice. The song is intentionally simpler and more straightforward. The driving beat remains the same throughout. It's not the best song on the EP, but there are some interesting vocal drop downs.

Any Minute has a bit of a surf vibe, probably one of the most garage rock casual of the bunch. The boy meets girl storyline has a feel good swagger to it. I Got Hung Up is more meandering and thematic, with an additively moody solo tucked inside the middle of it. It's my second favorite track on the EP.


It might take awhile before the She's An Alarm catches more attention. News about the initial break was fairly limited to a handful of sites, with most breaking the news ahead of reviews. Part of the buzz was related to the limited physical release of the 7-inch with 1,000 neon green and neon pink records. The other reason the EP will have a slow start is that there are a surprising number of people who think this is a new band.

She's An Alarm By One Man Army Sounds 8.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale. 

Nobody can do better on a 4-track EP this week than One Man Army. Everything about it rocks, and the fact that they went back to Adeline Records just makes it better. One Man Army, after all, was the first band to release a record on the label started by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. Several bands have since said that they were influenced by One Man Army.

The EP was mastered by Mass Giorgini (Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Screeching Weasel). It comes out in conjunction with the quiet re-release of Last Word Spoken (2000) and Dead End Stories (1998) on Amazon. You can pick up She's An Alarm and both albums on iTunes as well. You can also keep an eye out for tour dates on Facebook (no news yet). 

The Soviettes Turn 10 With LP II

After ten years of being a definite punk rock girl band (plus Danny Henry) from Minnesota, the completely remastered rerelease of LP II couldn't have landed on a better week. LP II was a slamming sophomore album that received some attention but not nearly enough.

It was a shame it didn't get more. From front to back the album rekindles everything that was right about Berkeley-infused punk since its beginning in the 1990s, while adding in just enough pop punk to keep pace with the flavor of 2004. In other words, it retained the rawness that some pretend punks abandoned for more radio play.

So what happened? That is the question that Annie "Sparrows" Holoien (guitar, vocals), Maren "Sturgeon" Macosko (guitar, vocals), Susy Sharp (bass, vocals), and Henry (drums, vocals) have been asking themselves. Maybe it's best to stick with what Henry said in 2007. "I don't know why we broke up," he said, claiming it was relationships even though it had more to do with an aggressive summer tour schedule.

The Soviettes Reunite For Sporadic Shows And Outings.

What is more clear is why they reunited to play a few fests and similar shows. Initially, Ollie Mikse of Red Sound Records tracked the members down and asked if he could compile a rarities collection and revive the band name. Six months later, it was put out without much fanfare (mostly for good reason outside of a few tracks). The band's own words nail it down.

"Some of it is great, and some of it is totally embarrassing but it's honest," the band submitted with its release. "When we get together in March to play a few shows and have a party for the record, it will be the first time we'll all have been in a room together since the day we stopped playing."

Following the release, they did play in March and have some upcoming shows slated for California (San Francisco in August, Alpine Village and San Diego in September). For Adeline, the timing couldn't be better — a remastered release from the band it signed and then lost to Fat Wreck Chords made sense.

Just as I said then, never mind that most songs wrap in under two minutes. The Soviettes lend more power than most fit into a four-minute track. And, unlike many bands, first-time listeners will discover that the songwriting is just as strong as the musicianship.


While the vintage video #1 Is Number Two is catching some added attention, there are plenty of tracks worth checking out on LP II. Three of my favorites are Ten, Whatever You Want, and Goes Down Easy. The slow down on Tonight is also a nice change of pace, bordering on garage rock more than punk.

Across all of it, what stands out the most is their ability to have four individual personalities come through on a band effort. The same holds true when they perform live. All recent mentions suggest they sound like they never took a break. Two of them really didn't. Holoien and Henry continued to play for some time together in the band Awesome Snakes. But nowadays, all of them have different obligations and three are in other bands.

Holoien plays with The God Damn Doo Wop Band. Macosko plays in The Gateway District. Sharp is in That's Incredible. Of the three, That's Incredible has the most potential based on last year's EP. The Gateway District is good, but still needs to settle into a singular sound instead of two overlapping sounds. The God Damn Doo Wop Band is an alt doo wop band. It's different and it is too soon to tell. Check those out if you like. None of it sounds as good as the four of them together.

The Soviettes Remastered LP II Strikes 8.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

I've been toggling back and forth between the original release and the remastered one for a few days. The most discernible difference is that Adeline pushed up the vocals and cleaned up a few spots and punched up others. It works.

Along with LP II, the Rarities release does have some gems on the 18-track album. It's The Red, Matt's Song, Latchkey, gossip@whogivesashit.com are all worth the download. Good enough, in fact, that you might long for another outing.

Otherwise, pick up LP II on iTunes. If you want to dig up more there, search for Soviettes and The Soviettes. The original II is at Amazon. You can also find the 2004 version at Barnes & Noble. Double check the release dates to be safe, but generally the 2004 version is gray or orange. The new one is blue-green.