8/29/11

The Gears – Rockin’ at Ground Zero Deluxe Edition

The Gears were a surf punk band from the Los Angeles area who were around during the first wave of punk rock to emerge out of Southern California. They put out a 7″ and an album and then broke up. Their records went out of print quickly back then so for years they weren’t available anywhere until the LP was reissued for a short period of time over a decade ago.

Well this legendary but rather overlooked by the masses punk band as finally had the entirety of its recorded works reissued in one convenient package. Rockin’ At Ground Zero contains the full length album of the same name along with the original three song Let’s Go to the Beach 7″ EP. On top of that, this disc contains five never before released demo songs from a tape that was recently found, four of which later ended up being recorded for the LP and one that has never been heard before this release!

The music of The Gears is 1970s mid-tempo punk rock with some surf and even a little bit of rockabilly bits in some songs. The songs are punchy but you can sing along to them and the choruses, especially in songs like “Let’s Go to the Beach,” are infectious and you’ll be singing along to them by the second time around in any particular song. Their songs are short and to the point and every single one of them is a good listen, they didn’t stick around long enough to have any filler and certainly didn’t waste any space on their only two releases.

A1Baby Runaround
A2Let's Go To The Beach (LP Version)
A3Don't Be Afraid To Pogo (LP Version)
A4Elk's Lodge Blues
A5Teenage Brain
A6Wasting Time
A7Darlin' Baby
A8Trudie Trudie
B1High School Girls
B2The Last Chord
B3Heartbeat Baby
B4Rockin' At Ground Zero
B5I Smoke Dope
B6Keep Movin'
Backing Vocals – Tito Larriva
B7Last Chance
B8Let's Go To The Beach (Original EP Version)
B9Hard Rock
B10Don't Be Afraid To Pogo (Original EP Version)

Credits▼