Artist:     The Rubinoos

Album:     The CBS Tapes

Label:     Yep Roc

Release Date:     6.25.21

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The Rubinoos had the run of the place, with minimal adult supervision. Entering CBS Studios on Folsom Street in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 1976, the day after Jimmy Carter was elected President, the teenage power-pop scamps made themselves at home, looking to have a little fun and get used to the environs where they would lay down their classic self-titled debut album.

They could be as obnoxious and snotty as they wanted, playing whatever struck their fancy as the tape rolled on. That bratty impromptu live session is the subject of the one-of-a-kind archival release The CBS Tapes, a rare glimpse of a young band gleefully losing its virginity as a recording entity in a joyfully shambolic, varied set of originals and covers that’s full of comic piss and vinegar, swears a blue streak, and behaves rather terribly. They were just kids, after all.

Surprisingly well-recorded, thanks to the engineering and mixing wizardry of Glenn Kolotkin, The CBS Tapes offers a satisfying fly-on-wall experience for devotees, capturing The Rubinoos’ spirit of adventure and naïve spontaneity with aplomb. Then comprising co-founders Jon Rubin on vocals and Tommy Dunbar on guitars, as well as drummer Donn Spindt and bassist Royse Ader, The Rubinoos were keen on energetically charging through their own material, getting giddy about rock ‘n roll with “All Excited,” injecting an upbeat, colorful “Nooshna Kavolta” with unabashed exuberance, and holding onto the driving punk tension of “I Want Her So Bad” for dear life. Just for kicks, they also ran roughshod over a slew of favorites from their heroes.

Expectedly, they bestowed raw vitality, charming reverence, and buoyant vibrancy upon faithful versions of The Beatles’ “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” after unpredictably staggering loosely across The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” with a slightly slower tempo that makes the song feel dirtier and less saccharine. After a wild, stinging adaptation of the legendary surf instrumental “Walk Don’t Run,” The Rubinoos return to a state of guitar-pop bliss with their sunny rendering of the DeFranco Family’s utterly infectious “Heartbeat, It’s a Lovebeat,” before delivering an organically funky reworking of the Meters’ “Cissy Strut” and wrestling with the Modern Lovers’ “Government Center” in a rough rumble of a remake. Turn on The CBS Tapes and relive a moment where everything was possible for The Rubinoos.

—Peter Lindblad