In their 25 year career the Queers have not release a DVD. What kept them from it? Were they too busy making top notch music? Were they busy rocking the socks off of every punk in the world? Possibly, but in 2007 Joe Queer and company have decided to fix this oversight. "The Queers Are Here" compiles nearly 30 songs and crams in live performances, music videos and interviews. You know, all that stuff that MTV is too cool to show, but the Queers ever-growing audience are drooling to see.
When I see a DVD with live performances I'm always curious, what's the quality? To be fair the audio quality on "The Queers Are Here" wavers between good and freakin' sweet. This is a compilation of performances spanning several years, and some recordings are just better than others, but none are bad to the point of unlistenable. Performances by ex-Queer Wimpy are a treat for fans that missed the bands early work.
The snippets of interviews between tracks are worth seeing. Joe Queer, always opinionated and never at a loss for words, gives his views on punk as passion versus punk as a fashion statement. Mr. Queer's honesty is refreshing when one considers that current punk is about as honest and edgy as a McDonald's happy meal. Joe's sense of humor shines through in the interviews as well as it does in the Queers lyrics.
But back to the music. "The Queers Are Here" shows the band in several different incarnations, and includes some of their best known classics. From the first song the Queers wrote "We'd Have A Riot Doing Heroin" to more recent tracks like "Don't Back Down", this DVD captures the fun, the ethos, and the honesty that makes The Queers a driving force in true punk rock.
Reviewed by Jim McDonald |
