Review: The Polymorphines 'Transistor Sistor'

Tattoos, long hair and The Polymorphines.

Ladies and Gentleman, this is Rock and Roll. An echo of Blues-infused Garage Rock, The Polymorphines Transistor Sistor (Get Bent Records) makes you think the band has got to have a few of The Who and Led Zeppelin’s albums kicking around in their van. Complete with lyrics from the “anti-establishment” and “women who have done me wrong” categories of the Blues Rock repertoire, The Polymorphines successfully hit Rock and Roll bang-on. I guess that makes Axl Rose a bit Bluesy too – bear with me.

SOUNDS LIKE: Jet trying to get The Rolling Stones to like them.

Right off the top the album shows the ability of Jordan Potechin on drums, who does everything a Rock and Roll drummer can be asked to. The traps are tight, they’re loud, and they don’t slow down. Noisy guitars lead most of the way with dirty, hard-hitting chords and quick bluesy licks you can’t miss among tracks like “Goodbye Kiss”. Others, such as “Double Down” feel like the group is proudly paying some dues to the Stones hit, “Sympathy for the Devil”.

When asked about the band’s discography, vocalist Jeremy Brisebois said “[we have] no previous releases we’d like to remember.”

Suffice to say, there’s got to be some pressure on Transistor Sistor to show Canada what The Polymorphines can produce.

To effect, the band shows a certain level of talent and capability with an instrumental breakdown and impressive guitar work in the second track “Bring Your Love Back Home”. Believe me… It’s by all means the sort of thing you’ll hope they play for at least five and a half minutes live. It’s a strong start to the eleven track album, but after what may be the best performance on the record, what follows seems to be redundant until some serious, killer harmonica makes itself known – but with only a few minutes remaining on the record. Could just be a matter of decision making when it comes to track ordering, but listening to the album for the second time, it was harder to get into the record knowing that talent was missing in a number of songs. That’s a compliment. The Polymorphines raucous garage rocking product is there for you to hear in its entirety on Transistor Sistor. Don’t be shy, crank it up.

Transistor Sistor is being released on Friday, March 20^th with a performance at Babylon Nightclub in the band’s hometown, Ottawa, ON.

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