Anti-social rock trio TV Buddhas is bringing back raw rhythm and bad vibes like it’s 1979. The group, composed of siblings Uri and Mickey Triest and Mickey’s husband Juval Haring, hails from Tel Aviv, though they’ve recently relocated to Berlin.

But real-life back story aside: They sound like a some amazing lost Detroit proto-punk band. Their brand new self-titled EP has it in for too-cool kids and bland radio rock. Packed with alienation and heavy riffage, it could be an unearthed recording from the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll chaos. The old school quality isn’t just in their Stooges-meets-The-Saints sound and their lyrical screeds against the annoyingly fashionable. It’s also in the EP’s production or, rather, it’s lack of any. With all the shiny recording technology available today it can be hard to make music sound so magnificently trashy. But the kids in TV Buddhas know the secrets of this lost art: They recorded all the songs in an hour using one mic and a field tape machine. It sounds exactly like they recorded it in an empty dumpster. Glorious!

Most everyone has felt like the only weirdo at the party sometime, so it’s easy to identify with a disaffected track like the anti-fun girls “Fun Girls”. (Or is it just me?) But don’t worry: Even if you were born with a blinding smile and you always have something amazing to do on the weekend, you can still get down with their sour style. No one has to know what’s most played on your iPod.

And anyway, we think they might not be such a bunch of gloomy Gus-ses after all. Their video for “Fun Girls” is, well, pretty fun:

TV Buddhas seem to have taken every second they saved on recording their EP and spent it playing shows. They’ve had 400 gigs in the last three years! They just got done tearing up Europe. They’ll start in on North America in September and then head back to finish off the EU in November.

Here is a sampling of their tour dates:
Sept. 1: The Dark Lady, Providence, RD US
Sept. 2: Don Pedros, Brooklyn, NY US /w Shellshag
Sept. 3: 31st Street Pub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
Sept. 4: Golden West Cafe, Baltimore, MD, US
Sept. 5: Danger Danger Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, US
Sept. 7: Now That’s Class, Cleveland, OH, US
Sept. 8: The Bishop, Bloomington, IN, US
Sept. 9: Ronny’s Bar, Chicago, IL , US
Sept. 10: Eagle’s Nest, Milwaukee, WI, US
Sept. 11: Frankies, Toledo OH, US
Sept. 12: Melody Inn, Indianapolis, IN, US
Sept. 13: Springwater, Nashville, TN, US
Sept. 15: Magic City Wholesale, Birmingham Alabama US
Sept. 16: The Saint, New Orleans, LA, US
Sept. 17: Super Happy Fun Land, Houston, TX, US
Sept. 18: TBA, Austin, TX, US
Sept. 20: Rubber Gloves, Denton, Texas, US
Sept. 21: The Hi-Lo, Oklahoma City, OK, US
Sept. 22: TBA, Albuquerque, NM, US
Sept. 23: TBA, Tuscon, AZ, US
Sept. 24: The Rogue Bar, Phoenix, AZ, US
Sept. 26: Bar Pink San Diego, CA, US
Sept. 27: The Smell, Los Angeles, CA, US
Sept. 28: TBA, San Francisco, CA

–Beverly Bryan

Photo Courtesy of TV Buddhas