In the final seconds of "Girls Want Teeth," track No. 4 on Rooftop Vigilantes' 16-song, 27-minute debut on Wooden Man Records, a guitar lick references Santo & Johnny's languid pedal-steel classic "Sleepwalk." It is a sick, sick joke. This Lawrence foursome is about as chill as a milkshake down the pants. But amid all the sloppy, sugary, pulse-accelerating rock-and-roll racket on Carrot Atlas, there's some tender melody making. And that's what makes it so easy to surrender to these recklessly harmonizin' Vigilantes. Led by the quirky talent of Oscar Allen Guinn (who changes names as often as he loses his glasses) and rounded out by co-singer and guitarist Zach Campbell, foxy organ pounder Hannah Hyde and delightfully undisciplined drummer Seth Weise, the band wraps ratty punk aesthetics around primitive pop charm. Song titles such as "Brad Shanks Want Girlfriend" and "Brad Shanks Tells a Joke" (Brad Shanks, whoever he is, must have a pretty compelling life) and the immortal "Cooking With Gassaway" just add to the masterpiece of fun and absurdity. It's music by fuckups for fuckups. Like the giddy, rebellious feeling that comes with the first shot of tequila at the end of a shitty week, Carrot Atlas is freedom reclaimed. If we can't get at least one album like this out of the local scene every year, there's just no reason to go on.
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