Strikes Again!

Damn, Strikes Again! are an aggressive band. I'm not saying they're the loudest band you'll hear, or the hardest, but they play their rock songs with such drive, such unfettered propulsion, they're likely to plow you over. Or, at least, they're likely to plow over a wimp like me. This NYC band plays music that's melodic and catchy, indeed, but also like a high-speed train powered by the rage of a thousand humans that's been held inside for way too long. They play the basic rock instruments - guitars, bass, drums - so efficiently and tightly, they're going to be compared to a 'well-oiled machine' by somebody. I'll resist, and call them an uncaged beast instead. Lead singer/songwriter John van Atta can scream out his emotions like you wouldn't believe, but it always, without fail, sounds like he has real, sincere emotions that he's letting out at the top of his lungs. Strikes Again!'s publicity write-up refers to "quixotic, evocative lyrics" - I can't comment, as (not counting one impassioned cry against mediocrity, and the album-closing dream of burrowing inside another person's body, which somehow comes off as both romantic and terrifying), I haven't been able to follow the lyrics. I've been too busy getting revved up by their energy and feeling like I've been run over by a Mack truck. It's a great feeling, I tell you.
- Dave Heaton - Erasing Clouds

Strikes Again's not-so-secret weapon is guitarist-singer John Van Atta, whose throaty, Springsteenesque roar gives the band's fuzzed-out indie rock a real sense of conviction. - Timeout New York