The Tough Shits

Tougher Than Your Average Band

They call themselves the Tough Shits, and they'll beat you up if you say anything mean about them. That includes calling them an indie band. For while this Philly foursome may be independently minded, their garage-punk sound is a far cry from the Built-to-Spill/New-Pornographers etherealness that has come to connote "indie."

The Tough Shits are more like an indie band parody, with brazen displays of debauchery and over-the-top outfits. (Even Man Man doesn't wear pants like this!)

The band cites its influences as Kiss, the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke and the Clash; we think they sounds more like '90s punk-rock outfit Bouncing Souls (and its 2000s equivalent, the Black Lips) and American alt-rockers the Replacements. But we can see how the band might admire that reckless, young guitar-smashing-authority-mocking thing that bands like Kiss and the Stones have going on.

Consider for example, the band's live show. To call it a wild, raucous insane fest would be an understatement. Think frantic thrashing, head-banging, shirtlessness and lots and lots of volume. (We get the feeling that guitar-smashing would occur too if the band weren't flat broke.) And while none of the band members can boast the same sex appeal as Gene Simmons or Mick Jagger in their heyday, guitarist John is already making ladies swoon as a model for Urban Outfitters.

Catch the band live, along with psychedelic garage rock band Dark Horse & the Carousels this Saturday, Jan. 19 at 10 p.m. at the M Room. Tickets are available at the door.
- Philly Style Blog

If you like old-school garage punk with the gunk ladled on hot and thick, this whole show will make you plotz. The Tough Shits? I have to admit — I hated that quartet's name at first. Had a neighbor at 58th and Elmwood who used to yell that at his children when they asked for ice cream. Now I feel like the Shits — John, Jughead, Mark and Gregg — is those kids grown up. And they're getting to have their cake and sucking the crème out of it, too, with rip-snorting Replacements-like sweet revenge on tunes like "Gonna Find Out." They'll be joined in psych-pop blues bliss by Philly's two-piece answer to the question "What if Jack White came down an octave?" Victor Victor Band and the girlie-girl blues-garage blowout (more Captain Beefheart than John Lee Hooker) that is the Jellyhearts. This'll be a guaranteed mess. - Philadelphia Citypaper

Between their naughty name and Stones-y look, it’s clear before even hearing the Tough Shits that their rock ’n’ roll rebellion is an old-fashioned one. But with songs so primordially catchy and colored in vividly with bad vibes, they sound more convincing every second, especially when the harmonies kick in. Their silly banter and sloppy entropy live helps, as does a standout tune like “Gettin’ Healthy 4 U,” which gets most of its mileage from half-baked promises. Then there’s Victor Victor Band, fellow garage goons from Philly whose mighty crunch and weasel-y vocals recall a more sinister White Stripes, and not just because they’re a guy-girl guitar-drums duo. (Doug Wallen) - Philadelphia Weekly

http://www.philebrity.tv/2007/11/01/philebrity-music-presents-up-down-with-the-tough-shits/

We caught Philly’s own The Tough Shits at The M Room about a month back and fell in love with them immediately. This clips shows a big part of why the Shits might just be the long lost heirs to thrones left empty by the Ramones and the Replacements. They play at Tritone this Friday, and again at our Foggy Notion Christmas Party. Stay tuned for more! - Philebrity.com