Tough Age
Self-Titled
Mint Records
Street: 11.12
Tough Age = The Clash + The Beach Boys + The B-52s
There’s a lot to like about Tough Age. They’ve got a nice surf-rock vibe with a dash of angst pulled right from a dingy garage. They’ve melted a lot of things together—everything from ’50s doo-wop that could’ve easily poured from a jukebox at a milkshake shop (“The Heart of Juliet Jones”) to slow melodic numbers like “Seahorse” which gives us a tight guitar tone and dreamy vocals that are just what the sandman ordered. “Open It Up” sounds like it was ripped from the Endless Summer soundtrack and has a groovy, ambling guitar riff that exudes ocean spray, and “Dream Date” is on the edge of punk rock without the raw energy. The whole album has an old-fashioned sound as warm as old tube amps and the band travels over a lot of terrain. This album is a great sonic trip up the coast. –CJ Morgan