Nodzzz: Innings

What the Ramones are to punk, Andrew W.K. is to metal, and Ke$ha is to dance-pop, San Francisco’s Nodzzz tries to be for lo-fi indie-rock on Innings. Young, dumb, and full of irrepressible goofiness, Nodzzz takes 23 minutes to nonchalantly bang out 14 songs on Innings, using about as many brain cells in the process. Innings doesn’t call out for penetrating analysis: “Fear Of Advice” is about being afraid of advice, “I’m Not A Wanderer” is about someone who isn’t a wanderer (at least not anymore), and “Primitive” is, yes, a primitive 93 seconds of slapdash drums and tunefully challenged guitars. Singer-songwriters Anthony Atlas and Sean Paul Presley appear to be products of a misspent youth reading Mad magazine and jamming on secondhand Dead Milkmen tapes, but their smarm-free commitment to idiot-savant pop-rock makes Innings a consistent inducer of smiles, along with the occasional groan. It helps that beneath the joyously carefree (or simply careless) exterior is a surprisingly high level of melodic craft, like on “Old Clothes,” a zippy power-pop number about (you guessed it) buying old clothes at the thrift store. Perfect turn-your-brain-off summertime entertainment, Innings fights the good fight against underground music becoming overly respectable or professional.