Review: The Incurables’ album ‘Inside Out & Backwards’

Review: The Incurables’ album ‘Inside Out & Backwards’ – Release date January 19, 2024

Emerging from the primordial ooze of the Detroit suburbs, the Incurables blend the sounds of the 60’s British Invasion and psychedelic era with the guitar-driven energy of New York’s CBGB power pop/punk scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s and deliver it with a passionate sense of fun that’s uniquely their own. Consisting of cousins Ray and Darrin Lawson on bass guitar and drums, along with their lifelong friends Pat Kelly and Dennis Pepperack on guitars, The Incurables have been sharing the stage together for decades – literally since the lineup coalesced in high school, with Pat and Ray having been inseparable friends since kindergarten. Since then, the band has graced stages across the US and as far abroad as Germany, The Netherlands and the UK, on tours and as openers for the likes of Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Steppenwolf. And for all the miles and all the accolades, there’s a sense in the mid-202os that the story is just beginning for this seasoned band of all-but-literal brothers with the sound that’s just as infectious as their name implies.

ROCK AT NIGHT SAYS: The Incurables bring us a solid album of garage, pre-punk rock with their album Inside Out & Backwards. They truly capture the 60’s sound with “When I Grow Up” and “Far Away.” The catchy “Soda Pop” and “Fun House,” with their cool bass lines, will have have you pogo dancing in no time. “Back to Eloise” describes having a bad day and ‘going back to Eloise.’ No, it’s not a girl, but a historical psychiatric hospital in Metro Detroit. Another banger is “Man of Few Words,” which begins with sweet, vocal harmonies before breaking into full-on guitar pandemonium. It rocks!