Features

The pop punk trio that is Egghead - equal parts razor-sharp hooks, rapid-fire wit, and basement-show velocity - operate in a very specific universe: one where power pop melodies collide with B-movie obsession, where MAD Magazine still shapes young minds, and where debates about Sicko versus Cub feel like urgent cultural battlegrounds. It’s a world they’ve clearly lived in for decades, not just visited. And it shows. Whether they’re compressing a feature-length heartbreak into two minutes or firing off a chorus that sticks on first listen, Egghead. have a knack for turning deep-cut influences into immediate, infectious songs.

Critics have tried to pin it down as “nerdcore” while others trace a lineage back to Stiff Little Fingers or The Dickies. Both are right, and neither quite captures it. Because beyond the references and record collections, Egghead. simply know how to write songs that hit hard and linger.

With Would Like a Few Words with You finally getting the loud, fast, neighbor-annoying vinyl treatment it has been needing since it was recorded back in 2009, it felt like the right moment to dig into the source material. So we asked the band to go straight to the roots: ten artists who shaped their sound, their sensibilities, and their particular brand of brainy, big-hearted punk.

THE DICKIES - Stukas Over Disneyland  

John Ross: I bought this cassette, sound unheard, based on one song title - “She’s a Hunchback” - which reminded me of the Ramones, whom I had just embraced. I fell in love immediately with these big hooks, harmonies, and cheerful guitars. A truly tasteless Beatles.

WEIRD AL - IN 3-D  

John Ross: The second full length by this legend was the first record of his that I bought. The parodies are great, but it’s his pastiche numbers (“Buy Me A Condo” is a reggae ode to Babylon, and “Mr. Popeil” is the best B-52s hit that Fred and company never wrote) that I keep cranking, 30+ years after their release. Al remains good, clean fun and I made certain that my kids’ first concert was one of his. In fact, we were at this show:

DAG NASTY - Can I Say

John Ross: I mean - the column is called Under The Influence - how can I skip the record that contains Under Your Influence? Maximum Rock-n-Roll called this LP a mix of “Husker Du and Minor Threat” and that was enough for me to buy it at Midnight Records on 23rd Street (RIP). Just a killer collection of melodic hardcore. My kingdom to write something that shreds like “Values Here.”  

THE WRENCH - Worry When We Get There

Reno: Blistering Clinton-era punk rawk out of the Queen City, Buffalo, NY. Did we actually know these guys? Maybe? We had some kind of a connection there. WORRY WHEN WE GET THERE is hooks all the way down. This reminds me less of the 90s and more of like 2007 when I played it to remember the 90s. Unstoppable.

WALL OF VOODOO - Call of the West  

Reno: The perfectly-named Wall of Voodoo was DEVO by way of Ennio Morricone, all pulsating drum machines, twang guitar and lingering menace. They were a shadow looming like smog over the LA basin. After the band split Stan Ridgway continued writing songs about bank robberies gone sideways, desperate salesmen and undead Marines. It’s all fantastic. I used to be somebody! Do you hear me? I used to be somebody! Show business is my life!

DIRT BIKE ANNIE  

Reno: The best live band of the 90s. You want hooks? You want choreography? You want songs with spelling or counting in them? Have at it, fucko. And so many songs! Singles and EPs and one-offs and albums! A high-energy punk power-pop machine.  

CUB - Come On Come On

Faloon: Lisa Marr was one of the best songwriters of the ‘90s. She’d be one of the best songwriters of the ‘20s if she were still active. On first pass, cub songs can be cheerful like Saturday morning cartoons, but the band could also steer into Johnny Cash level pathos. cub also cooked up a unique approach to indie pop with Marr’s bass riding high in the mix, Robynn Iwata’s sugar rush guitar buzz layered alongside, and brilliantly simple timekeeping from a succession of drummers, Valeria Fellini, Neko Case, and Lisa G. I spent a lot of time early on second guessing myself as a drummer and cub was an inspiring reminder that, Yeah, I could pull it off.  

SICKO - You Can Feel the Love in This Room

Faloon: I bought Sicko’s debut album based on the self-effacing title and the hypnotically weird album cover (drawn by Jason Lutes, later of Berlin fame). They kept their foot on the gas with hardcore tempos and tempered the propulsion with hooks, harmonies, and humor—nerdy and clever, but never coy or cutesy. You Can Feel burns through 18 songs in what feels like 20 minutes. The songs are “all killer, no filler” and they’re sequenced without any pauses between tracks. It also helps that they recruited Kurt Bloch from the Fastbacks to produce. Closing with a cover of the Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine” is the cherry on top.

BERSERK - Berserk

Faloon: John and I went to the inaugural year of the NYU New Music Fest. We saw Superchunk play a barbeque. We saw Iron Prostate at the Knitting Factory. We also had the good fortune of stumbling into Berserk’s set at CBGB. We started corresponding with their drummer, Skizz, who invited us to play at the Mansion, a funeral home turned performance space in Baltimore. Berserk were more accomplished than us, but treated us like equals from the start. Their self-titled CD is hits head to toe, including the 4-track version of “Giant Robots,” which they liked more than the full studio version.  

HYPNOLOVEWHEEL - Angel Food

Faloon: I first heard Hypnolovewheel described as “Beach Boys meets Sonic Youth,” which covers a lot of turf and served as a helpful springboard into this wonderfully eclectic group. I think all four band members wrote songs.  John Ross: 90% sure I was the one who called them that, and I was just trying to characterize their gift for noisy guitars and beautiful hooks. Also – had completely forgotten they had a song called “Big Bang Theory” on this record. Reno: I used to listen to “What’s Going On” in a continuous loop. If they released a 12” that was just 20-minute version of “What’s Going On” I would have listened to that in a continuous loop.