Smart Accessories

The Cute Lepers have played every club in Seattle, damn near every club on the West Coast, and circled the US repeatedly; cramming their 6 piece band into a tiny vehicle with nary room to sneeze or stretch without somebody losing an eye. They have crossed the mighty Atlantic several times to tour Europe and the UK either solo or on support tours with bands like The Buzzcocks. They are playing festivals such as Academy in the UK & The Rebellion Festival, as well as any combination of punk clubs, discos, basements, and scrappy (crappy?) squats. The Cute Leper's sophomore record, Smart Accessories, continues with more of the tuneful energy that earned their debut full length the attention of Joan Jett's Blackheart Records, Damaged Goods Records, and 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. The Cute Leper's first album earned respectable slots on radio station charts on both US coasts as well as an Independent Music Award for best Punk Album in 2009. Their power pop/punk debut made an appearance on several DJ's top list of 2008, including Seattle's own KEXP. "... The Lepers are cooking with crack. The spiky, power-pop bounce recalls a polished Fastbacks or Modern Lovers huffing the Vapors off Descendents. There's hardly a missed stop from the opening blast..." -Chris Parker, Alternative Press "The Cute Lepers remind listeners how much variety there used to be in punk's early days by rolling that era's range of influences into one record." -Emily Becker, Venus Zine "It's always a good sign when you find yourself reaching to turn up the stereo song after song, and by the end of this I think people three cities down could hear this blasting from my car's stereo speakers." -Jimmy Alvarado, Razorcake "The debut album from this Seattle band led by ex-Briefs guitarist Steve E. Nix is an energetic set of punkish power-pop rooted in the more melodic bands of Britain's '70s punk movement (the Buzzcocks, Undertones, Vibrators, Generation X). In other words, they're similar to the music of Nix's former band, but with a bit less punk attitude and more unabashedly pop in approach, putting them closer to the sound of Portland's late great Exploding Hearts (though not as deliberately lo-fi)." -Don Yates, KEXP 6/2008 "This album is a collection of cheery, choral anthems that for me, recapture that anti-hero spirit of the late '70s punk scene. If The Cute Lepers lead singer, Steve E. Nix, had an English accent, I could very well be listening to Stiff Little Fingers or Sham 69. The consistent melodic guitar leads in the song "Terminal Boredom" conjures up an image of Doc Martens and the working class...totally contrary to the striped shirt wearing peglegged kids that cross my mind when I hear the phrase 'power pop.'" -Astra, Easy Street Records "Locals Only" blog.