The Cuts Biography by Mike DaRonco
Fed up with the bland pop-punk and pretentious indie rock that infiltrated their Bay Area scene, The Cuts wanted to smoke it all a by drilling back to the old school punk ethics of The Saints, The Stooges, The Real Kids and DMZ. By merging this angst with hints of early 80's new wave, Lookout Records applauded them and released their debut EP "Heart Attack" in 1999.
2 Over Ten Review by Richie Unterberger
The Cuts' second album sounds a little like a late-1970s New York or Boston new wave effort that managed to escape the radar (though the group are in fact from Oakland, CA, and 2 Over Ten was done 25 years or so after the late 1970s). Andy Jordan's clipped, faintly hysterical lead vocals will spark unavoidable comparisons to Tom Verlaine, and less so to David Byrne and Jonathan Richman. The band, too, have their similarities to vintage Television in particular, with the watery keyboard sound also dragging in the Talking Heads and the Modern Lovers as reference points (though the group's far more in the Television camp than the Talking Heads one). There's a modest, affable looseness that leaves the impression that they might have come off as more gentle souls than they intended. Non-new wave influences are felt strongly at times: in some late-'60s-styled harmony, and guitars both power popping and jangly, as well as some of the boozy blues-rock-pop feel of early-'70s (vintage) Rolling Stones in tracks like "Electric Rite." The rub is that with all these hallowed acts serving as reference points, the group sound kind of derivative, but at least they're derivative of less-cliched sources than many other early 21st century bands indebted to retro heroes.
Profile:
The Cuts are four twenty-somethings from Oakland, California, who make some of the best garage pop that you'll find today. The Cuts' wild sonic tantrums and lust-scorched anthems are so soaked in Nuggets history it's hard to believe they weren't conceived in the same fertile musical ground that produced bands like the Sonics and ? and the Mysterians. The band blends old-school, psychedelic garage with '70s NYC proto-punk noise (a couple songs are so Television it's crazy) - but these guys make the blend seamless. The guitars come off cheap and messy; the vocals are amped, snotty, and slightly distorted; the keyboards whiz around like some woozy Dennis Hopper drug sequence, and the rhythms switch between jangling so loosely they're gonna slip right out of your speakers and getting wound so tight they're gonna snap
The Cuts (2) – 2 Over Ten
The Cuts (2) - 2 Over Ten album cover
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Label: DBK Works – dbk106
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 2002
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock
A1 How Can I Get Through
A2 Electric Nite
A3 Losing Sleep
A4 Flip A Coin
A5 This Side Of Heaven
A6 Mr. W's Holiday
B1 Paradise
B2 Didn't Live Enough
B3 2/10 (Hang On Sean)
B4 Dreams
B5 The Early Bird (She Sings For You)
Producer – Greg Cartwright, The Cuts (2)
Licensed from Birdman records.
Gatefold sleeve, DBK Works – dbk106
Barcode: 6 46315 01061 9
GOLDMINE GRADING
MINT ---- It should appear to be perfect. No scuffs or scratches, blotches or stains, labels or writing, tears or splits. Mint means perfect.
NEAR MINT ---- Otherwise mint but has one or two tiny inconsequential flaws that do not affect play. Covers should be close to perfect with minor signs of wear or age just becoming evident: slight ring-wear, minor denting to a corner, or writing on the cover should all be noted properly.
VERY GOOD PLUS ---- The record has been handled and played infrequently or very carefully. Not too far from perfect. On a disc, there may be light paper scuffs from sliding in and out of a sleeve or the vinyl or some of the original luster may be lost. A slight scratch that did not affect play would be acceptably VG+ for most collectors.
VERY GOOD ---- Record displays visible signs of handling and playing, such as loss of vinyl luster, light surface scratches, groove wear and spindle trails. Some audible surface noise, but should not overwhelm the musical experience. Usually a cover is VG when one or two of these problems are evident: ring wear, seam splits, bent corners, loss of gloss, stains, etc.
GOOD ---- Well played with little luster and significant surface noise. Despite defects, record should still play all the way through without skipping. Several cover flaws will be apparent, but should not obliterate the artwork.
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