Gallows Birds
Quarantine-age Kicks
Picture it: Pandemic, 2020. The bars are closed. Offices are shut down. Anxieties are high. In Wilmington, North Carolina, Travis Woods (Eccentric Pop Records) is spending his days with some old friends - the Beach Boys, Ramones, the Everly Brothers, the Dickies - and dreaming about riding his Lambretta down to the beach to soak up some sun like he used to be able to do. But the beaches are off limits and the Lambretta's been under a tarp since last summer. So he picks up a guitar and begins writing some new tunes - summer tunes, beach tunes. Tunes inspired by girls, scooters, surfboards, the Beach Boys, the Ramones. Before long, there's a whole record's worth, written and recorded to a click track. Glenn Welman, himself quarantined at home in Johannesburg, South Africa, records some drums tracks, and sends it off to yet another restless quarantiner - Richie Holes (Goin' Places) in New York for vocals. Before long, from cities across the globe, the three have completed a a full LP - Quaranteenage Kicks. A collaboration among three friends, thousands of miles apart, who have never once met in real life. It's the perfect summer soundtrack to chase away those quarantine blues. FFO: Beach Boys, The Ramones, Graham Parker, The Hi-Fives, Phantom Surfers, The Smugglers, Lookout! Records.