The Queers
A Day Late and a Dollar Short

THE REVIEW

When we talk about the Queers today, we think of one of the best pop punk bands of the '90s: lots of melody, fun lyrics, and an irredeemably carefree attitude. However, it wasn't always like this. At the beginning of their career, they dedicated themselves to a raw punk rock with a decidedly seventies-era influence, which landed them in compilations like Killed By Death.

It all started in 1982 in Portsmouth where Joe Queer (vocals and guitar), Wimpy (drums), and Tulu (bass) decided to form a punk rock band between drinks at the Starlight club. The name The Queers was chosen to piss off both the local art scene and the town's hicks. Barely enough time to pick up their instruments and they self-produced their first EP “Love Me,” poorly played and even worse recorded (but what the hell, it's punk rock, right?): the result was still unripe and definitely raw and minimalistic, two chords and off they went, but it contained great tracks like “We’d Have A Riot Doing Heroin,” “Fagtown,” “I Want Cunt” that showcased the provocative and defiant attitude of the early Queers.

After a short break, in 1984, they changed lineup (this time Wimpy took over vocals, Tulu moved to guitar, and their friend Keith was called in to play drums) and gave birth to a new EP, “Kicked Out Of The Webelos,” a masterpiece of seventies-era punk rock! The Queers had significantly improved from their early days, the sound, while remaining quite raw, was less sparse and more solid and compact. Wimpy’s acid and hoarse voice was another step forward, and tracks like “Kicked Out Of The Webelos,” “Tuly Is A Wimp,” “I Don’t Wanna Work,” “This Place Sucks,” “I’m Useless” are true gems of tight and wild punk rock (this 7” would be included in one of the Killed By Death compilations), covered by bands like the New Bomb Turks, Teengenerate, and (legend has it) even the Ramones. After this exceptional EP, the Queers survived just a few concerts before breaking up and going their separate ways.

Almost ten years have passed; in the meantime, in 1990, Joe reformed the Queers, and they became one of the leading bands of Lookout and pop punk in general. Then in 1993, Wimpy returned to town for vacation and joined the new Queers (besides the usual Joe on guitar and vocals, there were Harlan on guitar, B-Face on bass, and Hugh on drums) as a singer to record two new EPs “Too Dumb To Quit” and “Look Ma, No Flannel” (a brilliant title when you think it came out in the middle of the grunge explosion) and a live session at radio W4MU4. Sure, they were no longer the raw band of their beginnings; the sounds were more refined, and there was more space for melody. However, maybe due to Wimpy’s voice or nostalgia for the old days, compared to the other Queers albums of the period (still excellent but decidedly more pop), these are undeniably harder and punk and, in my opinion, even better. Just listen to tracks like “Wimpy Drives Through Harlem,” “I Like Young Girls,” “Nobody Likes Me,” “Nothing To Do,” “Meat Wagon,” “Don’t Puke” to realize it.

As the savviest among you have already noticed, “A Day Later And A Dollar Short” collects these very EPs and is absolutely unmissable for understanding how great the early Queers were, even if just for an EP like “Kicked Out Of The Webelos.”