Sad news for fans of good dirty Australian rock’n'roll as stalwarts Warped call it a day.

I’ve only seen Warped live once, at a PBS benefit. They put on a fantastic, high-energy performance, even if bass guitarist Brettthereberock did nearly keep belting Stu in the face with the pointy end of his guitar because we were right up the front and he kept coming right up the front of the stage and we couldn’t really step backwards or dodge because the crowd was packed in tight. Apart from the look of terror periodically crossing Stu’s face at the prospect of losing some teeth, it was a really great night. Warped will be sorely missed (except maybe by Stu’s teeth).

Oh, and don’t laugh at me just because I don’t know what the pointy bit at the end of a bass guitar is called, arseholes. I’m not a musician, I just fellate them in the hopes of improving my sense of self-worth.

I picked up the Bobbyteens’ LP Not So Sweet at Au Go Go’s closing down sale. I wasn’t able to listen to it instore due to their CD player being disconnected (it was their last day of trade, so fair enough), but I had a hunch that they’d be a band that I’d like. A combination of the kitsch and slyly humourous sleeve art, featuring the band as 50s era teenage delinquents, and the fact that I have some sort of instinct for records I’ll like even without having heard the band was enough to make me fork out my hardearned.

I’m so glad I did. Not So Sweet grew on me slowly over the first couple of listens, but soon I began to find myself humming ‘Blind Date’ as I went about my day, or tapping out the riffs of ‘I’m Alright’ or ‘Let’s Get It On’ on tables, my laptop, and my acquaintances. It’s since taken its place as one of my most-listened to records, guaranteed to get me out of a funk or hype me up even further. The Bobbyteens play raucous, sleazy garage punk rock with plenty of hooks and a lot of attitude. Staying true to their name and cover art, most of the songs have a retro feel to them, and are often about sex and dating and being the ‘bad girl’ from a 1950s perspective. The memorable opening track ‘Liquid Love’ turns rock’s old My-Sharona-sleazy-old-man dynamic on its head, and sets the scene for the rest of the songs.

In terms of the ubiquitous comparison to another band (I think they’ve made it mandatory for reviewers to do that, yeah?), the Bobbyteens sound like the Donnas would if the Donnas actually knew how to write interesting songs and had some non-record-label mandated attitude. I suppose I could have just said that the Bobbyteens are better than the Donnas, but there’s no slagging off opportunity in that, is there?

Anyone who likes fast, hard and fun punk rock would probably benefit from checking out the Bobbyteens.

Their official site can be found here.