illiterates - Goddamn Gun-Toting Junkie Camaro Enthusiasts

From the distorted bass riff that kicks off illiterates’ Goddamn Gun-Toting Junkie Camaro Enthusiasts, listeners are transported to a dystopian wasteland of the band’s own creation—a place where cult leaders, muscle cars, and frantic, overdriven guitars commingle in an unholy union that’s equal parts Richard Hell and Jim Jones. Inspired by ‘80s & 90s punk and classic garage rock, the Los Angeles/Atlanta-based quartet create scuzzy rock & roll anthems that both sonically and lyrically channel the delightful lo-fi morbidity of old grindhouse B-movies.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered over the course of two days by Ed Rawls (Black Lips, The Coathangers, Those Darlins) and Justin McNeight at Atlanta’s The Living Room, Goddamn Gun-Toting Junkie Camaro Enthusiasts comes across as kinetic, immediate, loud and fast. “We’ve always wanted illiterates to be raw,” says guitarist Steve Labate. “We force ourselves to keep things simple. If anyone’s ever overthinking a part, anyone else could throw up a veto and strip the idea down to its base layer. Recording totally analog with Ed and Justin was a reflection of that ethos. It was all about the feel of each take rather than capturing a perfect performance.”

In the same spontaneous spirit that permeates illiterates’ every move, Goddamn Gun-Toting Junkie Camaro Enthusiasts kicks off with “Beer Commercial,” an explosive two-minute blast of punk energy that was written the night before entering the studio. In fact, the recording captures the third time the band ever played the track in full. Lyrically, “Beer Commercial” serves as a perfect introduction to illiterates world, steeped in biblical references and signs of the impending apocalypse and searching for an individualist sense of purpose amidst the chaos. “I don’t belong to the side of God, and I don’t belong to the side of Satan,” says vocalist Steve Albertson. “I’m somewhere in between. So when the shit goes down, where does that leave me?”

Though much of the record is steeped in allegory containing elements of the fantastic, Albertson isn’t one to stray away from calling attention to political and social causes. On “Violence Is Golden” he explores the different types of violence pervasive in our society, rattling them off almost as a Buzzfeed listicle highlighting all of the ways our culture embraces violence. “Violence is a reoccurring theme in my songs,” says Albertson. “I'm intrigued by it. I hate it. I'm excited by it. It’s something that shouldn’t exist in the world. From domestic violence all the way to global warfare, we’re all just killing ourselves in the end.”

Perhaps the epitome of illiterates penchant for simplicity, one of Goddamn Gun-Toting Junkie Camaro Enthusiasts’ highlights is the 34-second blistering hardcore track “god is e-flat,” a one-note song that finds Albertson spouting off the names of various historical and fictional deities and people whom he considers to be gods in their own right, like Iggy Pop. “In classical music, E-flat is considered the ‘Key of the Divine,’” says Labate. “A lot of old composers would write their divine-inspired symphonies to God in E-flat, so we wrote a whole song around just that one note.”

The impulsive and stripped-down nature of illiterates’ music is also integral to their ethos as a band. Originally, illiterates were formed on a whim with the sole purpose of wreaking havoc at a poetry reading in Atlanta’s punk-rock haven, Star Bar. The show was booked before the band even existed, with Albertson and Labate recruiting lifelong friend & drummer Ryan Sloan (with whom Labate had played in bands through high school) and finding bassist Jesse Cole—coincidentally a college friend of Sloan’s—through a Facebook ad that read: Seeking bassist for loud, fast, extremely drunk rock & roll side project. Influences: Dead Boys, Dead Kennedys, Stooges, MC5, Mudhoney, early Replacements. Minimal time commitment. We have to really like hanging out with you. Also, no complaining or creative disagreements allowed. In fact, creativity is frowned upon. We favor pure adrenaline and enthusiasm over chops and interesting ideas. Have no songs yet, but we have a show booked.

Following last year's Makeout Mountain, illiterates are ready to release their white-knuckle punk opus Goddamn Gun-Toting Junkie Camaro Enthusiasts. For anyone who finds themselves lacking their daily recommended dose of adrenaline-fueled, high-energy punk rock, illiterates have the panacea. “We just want to hit that primal part of your brain that’s all id,” says Albertson. “Just sex, drugs, violence, viscera, energy.” Labate adds, “Maybe it’s a bit of escapism, trying to get away from everything going on in the world right now, but just for a moment, we want to let people live out that fantasy of what rock & roll was when you were a kid.”