Cassette Review // Liquid Images "Liquid Images" (Tetryon Tapes)

https://tetryontapes.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-images

One of the things which I love right away about this cassette is that it sounds like something I might have heard in the late 1990's into the early '00's.   I'm not sure if it's the recording quality or just that it's on cassette, but there was this time when people had largely moved onto CDs but some artists found it to be either less expensive or just better suited for their needs and so they had actual demo tapes out there.  Liquid Images reminds me of that time, which makes me want to go dig out and listen to some of those cassettes.

This cassette begins with these start and stop guitar notes with an almost surf quality that have vocals over them which are more spoken word than singing.  This reminds me of Mudhoney, early Nirvana and Butthole Surfers.  Somehow though the chorus can still feel like a good sing along.   The second song has more singing with guitar chords and that makes me think of Smoking Popes.   The rock n roll guitars on "Rock & Roller Girl" make me think of Finger Eleven.  

During "Running Out of Time" I'm reminded of Tom Petty, while "She Says Avec Moi" makes me think of Buddy Holly and that era of rock n roll.  "Secret Fantasy" feels more like the Ramones, closer to punk, and "When She's Gone" just has qualities of all of the previous songs come together into one.  It's truly the song which seems to tie all of the other songs together and give Liquid Images their own unique sound.

Whether you think of these songs as being demos or not- as they might feel like that in their raw recorded quality- the fact is that there's a little bit of something for everyone within this cassette.  If you can't find the nostalgia in here to relate with, then you'll likely relate with just hearing something like this for the first time.  Regardless, this is a solid collection of punk meets rock n roll songs and I'm glad it has found its way onto cassette.