Look at you, clutching your pearl necklace, sipping a French vintage on your leather sectional sofa, propping your feet up on the kneeling hired help like they’re an ottoman. What happened to you? You used to be all about fighting the man… then you just bought in….

Even if you’re not a cashmere-clad yuppie living in a pre-war brownstone, the noisy garage rock trio Bugs and Rats will make you feel old—old for not being a teenager filled with raging hormones and angst. Adidas is a 30-minute, cymbal crashing rant, a garbled, snarling anthem that will have you digging through your dusty CD collection looking for In Utero and bootleg Anti-Flag albums.

Adidas can almost be heard as an ode to the band’s influences. Each track is done in a strict style: opener “Hallway” is early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, “Irish Cloud” and “The Juices” is pure Nirvana, “Hot Skins” is reminiscent of L7, “Guinea Pig” and “I Don’t Think You Know Distance” could be attributed to one of several American hardcore punk bands, and of course, there’s some Sex Pistols-like slurred screaming thrown into the fray. However, these Quincy, MA kids aren’t looking for stylistic credit. They state directly on their band’s MySpace page: “Bugs and Rats are willing to rip off anyone and everyone on that list [of influences] to achieve their one true goal: money.” Even sans disclaimer, their “ripping off” can be forgiven, because they do it so well. Without bringing a new sound to the table, they revitalize the grunge/punk/garage rock genre through killer guitar feedback, heated chords, catchy riffs, stop-and-drop drumming, lo-fi sound, and, most importantly, confidence. It’s like they stole the soundtrack to my high school years and shoved it all into one great album. Kurt Cobain died too soon, and Adidas picks up where he left off, reminding us that punk/grunge can still be done without sounding anachronistic.

While most of us leave Neverland, Shawnie Brando, Dice Sullivan and Radek van Helsin stuck around—and formed a band. All we got were credit card statements. Meanwhile, these three kids are still kickin’ it, probably smoking and doing drugs and participating in all those other favored pastimes of eternal youth. Now excuse me while I rub arthritis cream on my aching joints.

Track List:
1. Hallway
2. Big Man
3. Hot Skins
4. Irish Cloud
5. The Juices
6. Can’t Sleep
7. Guinea Pig
8. I Don’t Think You Know Distance
9. I Hope You Get Greased
10. Summertime
11. Sea and the Sun