Beretta76

Combining the urgency and unruliness of classic punk rock and topped with a spritz of sugary sweet pop, Beretta76 comes off sounding like their namesake, the Italian handgun that's come to symbolize both a sense of sleek style and deadly force. Beretta76 released their debut CD - the self-produced Black Beauty - after being together since 2002, having Jane Magazine choose one of their songs to appear on their 2002 Reader Produced CD, posting an eponymous EP, and sharing stages with acts such as Fountains Of Wayne, The Fratellis, Cracker, Shonen Knife, Earl Greyhound and The Fleshtones.

Beretta76 released their debut CD - the self-produced Black Beauty - after being together since 2002, having Jane Magazine choose one of their songs to appear on their 2002 Reader Produced CD, posting an eponymous EP, and sharing stages with acts such as Fountains Of Wayne, The Fratellis, Cracker, Shonen Knife, Earl Greyhound and The Fleshtones.

No Philadelphia quartet deals with whiskey nights and stark urbanity like they do. That attitude seeps through the pores of the band, even when raging through Beretta76's thickest wordless passages. But throw in sex, beauty queens, one hour stands, attitude-y princesses, more sex, old rock scribes throwing dismal dinner parties, and even more sex (there's a woman wrapped in a cobra on the cover for a reason, hoss); make it blunt, unprissy, immediate, pissed off, melodic and raw-rocking without lacking in precision; toss in the punch of power pop and the cutting clarion foxiness of singer and guitarist Camille Escobedo... it's a brutal Beauty you got in your hands. It's a record that hones their acerbic agit-power-pop into something that's sleek, tender, taut and tough without ever embracing rock from a feminist aspect.