The Nervous Eaters - Rock n Roll Your Heart Away (2024) Hi-Res

Nervous Eaters is generally recognized as one of the pioneering garage punk acts from Boston, taking their city by storm in the mid 70's with "Loretta," a glammy track with shades of the New York Dolls, David Bowie and the Flamin' Groovies. The band became a staple at Boston's CBGB equivalent, the Rathskeller or "the Rat" where they functioned as a house band of sorts, opening for bigger touring acts like Elvis Costello, The Police, The Go-Go's, Talking Heads, Dead Boys and more.

It's their second single that truly caught fire. The now infamous "Just Head" b/w "Get Stuffed" 7" was recorded in the same sessions as "Loretta" but produced a much different and more potent result that landed the band a demo with Ric Ocasek and eventually a short-lived deal with Elektra. The band split in 1981 and briefly reformed in 1986, but it was their inclusion on the second volume of the Killed By Death compilation series in 1989 that immortalized the band for fans of garage punk.

After a few records in the aughts and a full-on reunion in 2018 that included a pair of new records and a rarities comp, Nervous Eaters are back with Rock n Roll Your Heart Away. Opening with the title track, Nervous Eaters lean into their rock chops by combining the bar band blues found in Bruce Springsteen crossed with the nihilistic swagger of the Johnny Thunders classic L.A.M.F. Later on, the band leans harder into those same Springsteen-isms for "New Face" and more toward Thunders on "Scream." But the main focus of Nervous Eaters is in service of power pop—the kind found on early Stranglers records and classic Stiff Records releases—on tracks like "Vampire," "Inside Out" and "Girl Next Door."

Overall, Rock n Roll Your Heart Away is executed with varying degrees of success, but very few total missteps. It's the sort of record where every track is done well enough but leaves you with a giant "what could have been" should things have played out differently with their Elektra deal. It's something we'll never know, unlike Rock n Roll Your Heart Away—which ain't half bad.