![]() On paper, Rough Kids was an odd fit for Sorry State, a west coast melodic punk band on an east coast label known for putting out hardcore (which is why Dirt Cult is a more appropriate home for them), but I just always thought they were a great fucking band. So, you shouldn’t be surprised that I like this. Rough Kids: The Black and White and Gray 12” (Dirt Cult Records) The Black and White and Gray is the third album by Los Angeles’s Rough Kids, whose first two albums we put out on Sorry State. ![]() It’s a lot like Sorry State’s own the Number Ones, and if you have a place in your heart for this kind of chiming power-pop, you’re going to like it. The sound is raw and live, like a band playing together in a room (no synthesizers or drum machines here), and the recording has a slight vintage-y haze. While the songwriting is classic and timeless-full of big guitar hooks, vocal melodies, and lyrics about love and loss-they ground the presentation in 70s classics like the Flamin’ Groovies, Big Star, the dB’s, and the Shoes. That’s not to say Scratch ’N’ Sniff is redundant, any more than it’s redundant to write a pop song in this day and age… it’s an adaptable and extensible framework that any skilled practitioner can make their own, which is what the Whiffs do here. We’ve loved both of the Whiffs’ previous LPs here at Sorry State, and Scratch ’N’ Sniff keeps the streak alive, giving us more of the same classic-sounding power-pop. Whiffs: Scratch ’N’ Sniff 12” (Dig! Records) Scratch ’N’ Sniff is the third album by this Kansas City power-pop band.
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