The Pedaljets

If late-'80s local band the Pedaljets was ahead of its time, it was the members' own time as individuals that it was ahead of. The songs on the group's self-titled third album were written nearly 20 years ago, but the subject matter is all grown up. Disillusionment, deferred dreams, resignation toward one's own mediocrity, the overwhelming desire to fuck the secretary at work — these lyrical themes sound right at home in Mike Allmayer's ragged drawl, still pissed after all of these years (and the shitty jobs that came with them). At the same time, The Pedaljets, which the band rerecorded this year and released this week on OxBlood Records, sounds very much of the time when R.E.M. was making it big and a good, solid American rock band comprised varying parts punk, Stones, Springsteen and Petty. That was the Pedaljets then. Now, they're older. And louder.