Cheeseburger

Cheeseburger aims to revive the Stooges in much the same way the Darkness refreshed Queen and Redd Kross reenergized 1960s bubblegum, bringing efficient hooks, a sarcastic punk stance, and an eye for visual humor to the table. The Brooklyn trio—vocalist Joe Bradley, guitarist Christy Karacas, and drummer Luke Crotty—adapts the Stooges’ proto-punk howl for audiences shaped by the post-White Stripes era, where Bradley’s accurate Iggy Pop imitation serves as both the ensemble’s strongest asset and its chief liability. Their first outing arrived as a self-titled EP in 2002, followed in 2005 by the concise and pointed Gang’s All Here EP. Although that release sustains the group’s interest in Stooges-style aggression and New York Dolls raunch, its artwork delivers a precise, deadpan send-up of the Harry Nilsson album sleeve for Nilsson Schmilsson, showing Bradley in the well-known open-fridge-and-bathrobe pose. Kemado Records, the New York garage-punk imprint, issued the second EP and then released the 2006 full-length Cheeseburger, which reworked many tracks from the earlier two EPs.