The newest swat at the power-pop balloon by Tina Lucchesi's latest clot of fun-flinging floozies, Top Ten, really hits the mark. Known for her register of praised incarnations of trashy to benign hit slingers, like The Trashwomen and the Bobbyteens, Tina's hardly ever wrong. Top Ten's second single, released a couple of weeks ago on Classic Bar Music, follows their canon of offering up classic covers and contagiously in-line originals. Is their name implying their personal "top ten," musically (as their recorded roster of tunes would indicate), or is it simply a nod to the illustrious coil-haired rhythm guitarist Scott "Top Ten" Kempner of the Dictators? Who cares, the shit is good. This time they pull it off with the masterstroke of chivalrous song writing, "First Time is the Best Time" by the tutelary Boston slosh-pop outfit,DMZ! On the flip they hammer it home with a tonic cover of Teenage Head's strident kiss-off of personal financial irresponsibility, "Got No Sense." I wonder what Frankie Venom and the crew were spending all their loonies on back in '78? I'd bet something like checkerboard lapels and parking tickets,–or maybe Gordie Lewis squandered it all on hair care products. Either way, Tina and the gang's version of it is a squelcher. The original on the a-side, "Easily Unkind," fits the slate with Ms. Lucchesi's pithy and sightly gruff larynx. Top Ten will be performing at the Budget Rock festival this coming November in Oakland, California. You can catch some of their tunes here..
