Boomtown Gems

Comprising members of San Francisco Bay Area bands the Cuts, Parchman Farm and Hollow Earth, Oakland, California’s Apache mines tones from that early-‘70s vein where infectious power-pop collided headfirst into longhaired proto-punk. “Boys Life” opens with catchy guitar riffs and handclaps before singer Omar Hernandez comes in singing lyrics sounding somewhat like the androgynous Justin Strauss of Milk ‘N’ Cookies. “Bullet Train” drops infectious garage-glam with Runaways riffs and an Iggy Pop-inspired attitude that would have had the late, great Greg Shaw vying to get these guys signed to Bomp! Records. It’s hard to tell whether the drug references on the album’s standout track “Crystal Clear” and the similarly sinister “White Hammer” are tongue-in-cheek or autobiographical, but who cares? The melodies in both of these songs are more addictive than anything alluded to and the latter tune boasts some of the best guitar work on the album, courtesy of the self-proclaimed “Disaster of the Stratocaster,” Mark Aboud. Bookending with the inadvertently hilarious “Ride Apache Ride” begs for an upcoming cover of Cher’s “Half Breed.”