Cheetah Chrome and Sylvain Sylvain touring with Batusis.

I’ve been kind of enjoying a four-song EP from Batusis, a new band with some old, old names in it…namely Cheetah Chrome from Rocket from the Tombs and the Dead Boys and Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls.

That’s a pretty storied punk pedigree, but the songs are more in the line of old-time rock and roll. Opener “Blues Theme,” is a long surfy 1960s vamp, for instance, nothing punk about it. And, ahem, aren’t the punks supposed to be a little less misogynist than spandex rockers? Nah-uh, at least if you listen to “What You Lack in Brains,” a kinda creepy come-on to a girl still in knee socks with very little upstairs…yeah, and these guys are old enough to be her grandpa, eeewww.

But okay, hang on, because “Bury You Alive,” is the best kind of guilty, cock-rock-ish pleasure, with big spiraling guitar solos and probably some cowbell, and “Big Cat Stomp” also all-instrumental (I like them better when they’re not talking) is pretty rad as well.

No MP3s or video to speak of, but here’s the MySpace.

They’re also touring a good bit this summer.
Wed., 7/14 at Rutledge in Nashville, TN
Thur., 7/15 at High Tone in Memphis, TN
Fri., 7/16 at Off Broadway in St. Louis, MO
Sat., 7/17 at Rockbox in Chicago, IL
Sun., 7/18 at Small's in Detroit, MI
Tues., 7/20 at Opera House in Toronto, ON
Wed., 7/21 at Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH
Fri., 7/23 at Irving Plaza in New York, NY
Sat., 7/24 at Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ
Sun., 7/25 at M Room in Philadelphia, PA
Tue., 7/27 at Crooked I in Erie, PA
Wed., 7/28 at Quarter at Bourbon Street in Baltimore, MD
Thur., 7/29 at Black Cat in Washington, DC
Fri., 7/30 at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, NC
Sat., 7/31 at Earl in Atlanta, GA