A fair amount of the bands I am into today were first introduced to me during my Phila. days. Okay, that’s fine, 1995 and 1996 were great years for rock and roll. All these new acts were emerging, but what sucks is this was also the time I started managing local and unsigned acts. After I heard this EP, I knew in my heart I wanted to manage them, but unfortunately, it was too late. Why? Pretty simple—they recorded this CD and broke up. ARGH!!!! WHY?!?!
This record is wonderful because it is unique. You don’t hear bands today sounding the way Rotator Cuff did. You didn’t even hear well-known bands back in the mid ’90s sounding this way.
"Categorize" this as indie rock, sure, but I really couldn’t tell you what kind. Unclassifiable tunes. Happy rock? Happy indie rock. Maybe they thought they wouldn’t get further than college radio? I don’t know. Creative differences, maybe, although it doesn’t really sound like it. What this does sound like is just four guys who could pen some great lyrics and great music to match.
These are catchy tunes, ranging from three to four and a half minutes each. You can identify with their songs anyway you want to. For example, lines like, I’d wear proper dress shoes, if i saw something affect you. Yeah, you tell ‘em, hahaha!!! (As you can see, I am not a fan of my gender.) Smack those biOtches around, and tell ‘em to wake up and smell the coffee. After all, isn’t that what good music is all about? No, good music is not about smacking around the hOs and being okay with it, it’s about relationships and love, exposing the bad and celebrating the good. Can’t you tell I’m a KISS fan? 
Anyone with a good ear for tunes can really rock out to this record, even if it’s just bopping your head around for a half an hour. It just makes you feel good. You have five happy-go-lucky songs that really say, "turn it up!" Jesus, doesn’t that sound corny? Yeah maybe, but Rotator Cuff itself was not corny. Anything but! You have great titles like "Alfa Romeo," "Hot," "Nisku," "Your Fault or Mine?," and "2nd friend." Wow, that’s the whole freakin’ album! Young ones can identify with these lyrics for sure. Shit like, I am a great romance, but I wish i was thinner, yah you know that’s honest songwriting right there! I am not mocking them at all; I am being totally honest. I love every song, but my fave is "your fault or mine?," for I can totally identify with that. The BEST line BY FAR on the entire CD is, …washed myself with formaldehyde; warmed my heart to preserve last night. I have to bow down to that one, total romantics were in this band!
This is great shit and I highly recommending a scour for this cd. Try CD Europe. I think that’s where I found my copy, and that was in 1997!
A lil’ teeny tiny label in San Francisco had the guts to put ‘em out. You know what? Their label was located pretty close to where my first band was living at the time, but that’s another story altogether.
If you can find this cd, please buy it. Maybe it’ll be encouragement to get the guys back together.
Rotator Cuff was Joseph Woelf (vocals, bass guitar), Gary Kaplan (guitars, vocals), Rob Farrell (guitars), and Dave Turov (drums).
Click the Play button to hear a 30-second sample!
| 01. alfa romeo | |
| 02. hot | |
| 03. nisku | |
| 04. your fault or mine? | |
| 05. 2nd friend |