Cleveland ex-pat John Sharkey (Nine Shocks Terror, Clockcleaner) has re-emerged in Australia with a new musical project called Puerto Rico Flowers and it’s probably the farthest thing you’d expect from the man who made a name for himself melting faces and being an all-around abrasive kind of guy.
Remember that article in the Philadelphia Weekly where Clockcleaner were coined the city’s most hated band? Or, maybe you recall Clockcleaner’s single, “New in Town,” where Sharkey snarled about making friends over a bunch of brutal scuzz and the impression given was one where here’s one guy you wouldn’t want to invite out for a night of downing pints. Now, half a world away, Sharkey returns with a similar sentiment with “Let’s Make Friends,” a song which is certainly slower, less aggressive, and less caustic than anything in the Clockcleaner catalog. Still, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops. There’s some degree of heaviness in both its ragged guitar chords, and in his new persona, that of the melodramatic and isolated, new-wave miser. Again, the message is clear: Listen all you want, but make friends with this man at your own risk.
