Stumbling straight off the hot, hard streets of the Bay Area's grittier easterly half, Oakland's Bare Wires is a group of three guys — Matthew, Nathan, and Brian — who look like pretty '70s stoners and make a sound they describe as "slop pop."
If the threesome's newish song "Don't Ever Change" and the even newer "Ready to Go!" are reliable examples, we should interpret Bare Wires' intentionally vague (though undeniably catchy) genre tag to mean a nice, midtempo mix of proto-punk and glam with just enough scuzziness to keep it away from the radio. Think Gary Glitter, if he grew his hair really long, slathered himself in Vaseline, and tried to squeeze the Seeds' "Pushin' Too Hard" out of his guitar.
Now it's unlikely that Matthew, Nathan, and Brian plan to grease up with petroleum jelly when Bare Wires swaggers and slithers into Churchill's Pub this Friday. In the event, though, they decide that heavy lubrication is absolutely necessary for a successful slop pop experience, just lie back and enjoy, 'cause these glammy West Coast punks are way leaner and much better-looking than old Mr. Glitter. Plus they rock harder.
