Category Archives for Punk

Fucked Up – “Glass Boys”

 

Grade: B

Key Tracks: “Echo Boomer” “DET”

The most immediately jarring thing about Fucked Up’s fourth proper full-length is it’s running time. At 44 minutes, it’s barely half the length of their previous album, “David Comes to Life.” It’s only ten songs, and only three are over five minutes. This isn’t to say Fucked Up are taking a backseat after the success of their last album – instead they’re taking a whole new approach. “David Comes to Life” was an unequivocally ambitious rock opera with many characters and four parts. And it was so good that they forced publications like The Chicago Tribune into not only putting a hardcore album in their 2011 “Best Of” lists, but finding ways to blur the name. It did leave the band in an accidental awkward position though – as one of the most unique and unconventional bands in music, they were suddenly mentioned in the same breath as bands like Foo Fighters, who they’d previously spoken out against. So to continue fighting from the inside, they released “Glass Boys” – their attempt at a skewering, conventional rock record.

First off, it doesn’t really work. Asking Fucked Up to release a typical rock record is like asking Charlie Kaufman to direct the next “Transformers” movie – it just isn’t going to be as dumb as it should be. “Glass Boys” is still littered with narratives, references to mythology and dark, convoluted poetry. And furthermore, Fucked Up is a hardcore band at heart. Even if the band has never been as raging as most hardcore bands, Pink Eyes’ vocals are still as throaty and guttural as before. They’re just too ambitious to try to pull off a normal rock record – even if it’s not done seriously. This is the band that’s doing “Year of the…” EP’s in between albums, with 10+ and 20+ minute songs. Fucked Up are too imaginative, and exist in too many genres, to really pull this off.

So what results is a batch of moderately regular songs. On one hand, it’s interesting to hear Fucked Up go back to some traditional hardcore roots, with songs that are easier to wrap your head around. It’s all high energy, still. On the other hand, it does sound like a bit of a failed experiment. The biggest case is on “Warm Change,” where they mimic classic rock by ending with a pointless, meandering guitar solo and a keyboard fade-out. It’s a bit of a parody, sure, but one that doesn’t fit alongside any other song on the album.

But still, if you take the album at a base level and don’t look at it like a certain concept, it’s still a strong hardcore album. “Echo Boomer” is a raging intro to the album, and songs like “Touch Stone,” “Sun Glass” and “DET” are just as loud and abrasive as you’d expect from Fucked Up. And in some ways, their ambition works – the drums and guitars were recorded differently. Jonah Falco recorded four different drum tracks throughout the album, and the guitars are layered and smoothed out to make more of a drone noise than a lead melody. They’ve released a whole alternate version of the album, with half-time drums. Even at their least ambitious, Fucked Up is still incredibly ambitious. So even if this is a grand idea that provides little fruitful, it’s still a solid record from the most inventive band in music. The fact that Fucked Up even thought to make the exact opposite of their previous album shows they’re still at the top of their game.

If you like this, try: Tonally, Fucked Up has always been a tough band to place. Hardcore-inspired rock, built for the indie crowd – there’s no specific audience. So thematically, I recommend two of my favorite albums: Titus Andronicus’ “Local Business,” where the band was similarly finding a way to make a post-magnum opus album, and Queens of the Stone Age’s “Songs For the Deaf,” an earlier attempt at an overly-regular rock album.

-By Andrew McNally

Cheap Girls – “Famous Graves”

(Photo Credit: punknews)

Grade: B-

Key Tracks: “Slow Nod” “Knock Me Down”

As with any Cheap Girls’ record, the main fault of “Famous Graves” is also it’s biggest strength. The band has never, ever left it’s comfort zone, and have left their music in this frustrating void where the listener knows what to expect and is delighted with another similar record, until it inevitably becomes tedious by the halfway point. “Famous Graves” is no different. It starts strong, but it has a middle that sags from too many similar sounding songs.

Part of Cheap Girls’ original act was not to do anything revolutionary, merely to add their own spin onto fuzzy indie/pop-punk (think a more emotional version of Weezer’s Blue album). By sticking so closely to the formula, it reinforces their aim to make consistent and appealing music. But that works a little too well in their favor. “Slow Nod” opens the album, a typically high-volume, medium-speed song with plenty of fuzz and tough to interpret vocals. It’s the band’s staple sound, and songs like “Slow Nod” prove they can still do it well, and with plenty of energy.

The second track, “Short Cut Days,” has a catchy vocal rhythm and excels on a sound that’s intentionally condensed in the studio, with a garage feel – but also sounds like it could tear the walls down live. Cheap Girls, at their best, manage to make both sounds simultaneously. The album’s third song and lead single, “Knock Me Down,” is a more personal song about overwhelming pain felt after surgery, and combines strong vocals, strong lyrics and energetic music, the album’s best package.

After that, though, there’s a long string of songs that do nothing to differentiate themselves from each other. While they’re inherently enjoyable, they all follow the same formula. They’re almost all in the three-to-four minute range and they feel like time that’s being killed off until the album’s strong finale. Having weak and formulaic tracks is almost unavoidable, but five of the eleven songs feel like underdeveloped cuts they’re burning off. A bulk of the album, roughly half of it, falls victim to serious repetition.

The album does have a strong finale, though. “Thought Senseless” stretches (barely) over four minutes, and is a little more developed than a typical Cheap Girls song. “Turns” is a pseudo-ballad, one that has many of the characteristics of one, except that it isn’t a soft song, which makes for an interesting listen. And bonus track “7-8 Years” is more vocally forceful than any of the album’s other songs. The mix of acoustic and electric allow the vocals to come through more clearly, and it ends up adding an element to it.

At their core, Cheap Girls are an enjoyable band. They’re both incredibly simple and subtly complex. They’ve always blended fuzz and pop, in a 90’s throwback. Their sound translates well live, and their albums can accompany any real mood or season. “Famous Graves” just sounds too repetitive, and it could easily be shuffled in and lost amongst their past albums. Cheap Girls aren’t going to win any new fans over with this album, they’re just going to have a few more great songs for fans to eat up, and some more to pass on by.

-If you like this, try: Lemuria’s semi-classic 2008 album, “Get Better.” They have a constant sound much like Cheap Girls (and the two have recorded together).

-By Andrew McNally

Twin Berlin – “Sleazebrain”

(Photo Credit: http://www.rslblog.com)

Grade: B+

Key Tracks: “Rtbrfloat” “No Fun / Not 21”

Twin Berlin’s raw debut full-length comes catapulted out of a garage in the mid-’90’s. The Travis Barker-approved Connecticut trio channels underground indie-alt bands from the 90’s and blends them with a friendlier and more straightforward sound of today. The volume and the energy are high, as is the rhythm. The songs presented on “Sleazebrain” are probably going to get stuck in your head, guitar crunches and all.

The band, a trio consisting of Matt Lopez on vocals and guitar, Sean O’Neil on bass and James Janocha on drums, channel some storied predecessors. Their welcoming fuzz and guitar blasts do not sound out of place with the likes of Mudhoney and the Meat Puppets. The band is able to produce a batch of alt songs with strong, energetic punk influences and indie rhythms, all wrapped into a loud and warped sound that’s both raw and refined.

But although the band is able to recapture an image of the past, they add their own current flair, too. Where “Sleazebrain” differs from the likes of Dinosaur Jr., or some straighter 90’s revivalist bands of today, is catchier songwriting. Fuzzy guitar songs were radio-friendly in the 90’s, but Twin Berlin use more straightforward songwriting to make songs that aren’t aiming to reinvent the wheel, yet aren’t easy to forget. The band’s lyrics are more open and easy to relate to, and their adherence to conventional rock song structures allows for an album that seems to mix two different eras.

“Sleazebrain” isn’t a revolutionary album, and it isn’t trying to be. Instead, it establishes Twin Berlin as an honest and loud band, mixing punk, indie and garage fuzz with a ton of energy and ambition. The album is a punk album, masquerading behind some overly catchy rhythms. The guitar is roaring and rhythmic, the bass and drums adding ample energy. “Sleazebrain” sounds like it fell from the 90’s, but it has enough of a current flavor to survive today. The band’s best quality is their underground energy, and that’s readily apparent all throughout “Sleazebrain.”

-By Andrew McNally

Andrew Jackson Jihad – “Christmas Island”

(Photo Credit: http://www.andrewjacksonjihad.com)

Grad: B+

Key Tracks: “Temple Grandin” “Children of God”

When you think Andrew Jackson Jihad, “cryptic” isn’t quite the word that comes to mind. Their lyrics are puzzling, but far too direct to be “cryptic.” This is the band that once posed, “When a pregnant woman gets decapitated, does the baby survive?” But on their new full-length, “Christmas Island,” the band is a little more thought-provoking. They expand on folk-punk, embracing a bigger sound and lyrics that are even more unconventional. “Christmas Island” isn’t AJJ’s best album, but it takes the better parts of their two best albums and finally combines them into one.

Andrew Jackson Jihad’s best albums are probably their ’07 debut, “People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World,” and 2011’s “Knife Man.” The two albums really aren’t that similar, but “Christmas Island” aims to bridge the gap. It largely succeeds, as they expand their acoustic sound without getting too self-indulgent in electric rhythms. A vast majority of “Christmas Island” is acoustic, aimed less at energy than it is at poetry. Although the band is still aimed at devastating, almost demented poetry, they turn their focus back towards stripped down elements.

“Christmas Island” benefits from having flow, something that has hindered AJJ’s past albums. While their past albums have been wholly stellar, they often lacked any sort of narrative flow, often opting instead for shocking and abrasive lyrics. “Christmas Island” lets some some songs take a backseat for others, knowing which pack the biggest emotional punches. Opener “Temple Grandin” is a fight against autism, channeling the autism research hero. “Best Friend” is steeply poetic and existential, while “Angel of Death” is just as randomly self-deprecating as their earlier music.

Folk-punk is a genre that doesn’t ask much from a musical standpoint, but Andrew Jackson Jihad focus a little more on an expanded sound on this album. There are more instruments, often including piano and strings into the songs. And the songs are a little more rounded, instead of just the guitar attacks of the past. And there’s more slower songs, helping the album feel a little more complete. “Christmas Island” shows hints at maturity. There’s more diversity in the music, and more depth in the lyrics. They’ve always been a weird and unsettling band, but the lyrics on “Christmas Island” are so staunchly self-indulgent that Noisey had the band explain them. The album is peppered with lines like “eyes as red as a dog’s asshole when you see it shitting” (“Children of God”) and “I am the Kool-Aid on the mouth of a kid whose name is most likely Cody” (“Angel of Death”), which also mentions the Slap-Chop and their own Salad Glove. This is definitely AJJ’s most puzzling album yet, even if it ‘feels’ a little more mature.

So “Christmas Island” is both a step forward and a step back. They’ve re-embraced acoustic music – the only electric song is “Kokopelli Face Tattoo,” right in the album’s middle – while broadening it into a fuller sound. And they’ve deepened their lyrics, so they aren’t as aggressively violent and perverse, while still keeping them demented and inquisitive. “Christmas Island” suffers from a few too many cooled down songs (they are a punk band, after all), but it’s the right step forward for a band whose formula was growing a little tired. I’ve written about seeing AJJ before, and although “Christmas Island” doesn’t quite stand up to their best works, it’s easy to give it the benefit of the doubt. It’s one that will leave you just as puzzled and frightened as anything they’ve done before.

If you like this, try: the only band I can ever recommend in the same breath as AJJ, check out Defiance, Ohio’s 2006 album “The Great Depression.” The band’s best album perfectly balances screaming and singing over hyper-folk-punk, acoustic music.

-By Andrew McNally

House Olympics – “…And My Mind is Restless”

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: B+

Key Track: “Everest”

All hail the Midwestern emo scene, it seems to produce winner after winner. The same goes for House Olympics, a new group with a decidedly heavier influence from Bloomington, Indiana. The band takes it’s influence from emo’s more punk roots, opting for heavier vocals and more straightforward guitar volume but keeping the genre’s poetic lyrics. Their first release, the “…And My Mind is Restless” EP is four songs of angry music and mixed emotions, all of which feels purposefully unresolved.

As with many emo bands, the band – TJ on guitar and a pair of Adams on drums and bass, with all singing – makes an effort on unique song titles. The opener, “Get #rekt Steve Jobs,” is instrumental, but sets the tone with a forceful rhythm that builds upon itself, to drum up intensity going into the first proper song, “Tossing, Turning, Treading.” “Tossing” is equally forceful, at least at first, with some strained, screamed vocals and the punk-emo blend at it’s strongest. But the song takes time for an extended breakdown, so it isn’t just a blast of energy.

“Everest” is a more lyric-based song, with clearer vocals and lyrics about going to great and sometimes violently emotional lengths to figure out your personal issues, without any resolve. “I would be willing / To get hit by a car / Just to knock the sense back into me.” The lyrics are pretty typical of emo – introspective and sad, rough and filled with questions that don’t have answers. It’s the EP’s most emo-based song, and possibly the best song. The finale “Super Smashed Bros” (another great title), meanwhile, is a more punk-based song, with a deceivingly emo rhythm played over some distant-sounding drums, until the song builds into a long and grinding climax. Layered vocals and a crunching guitar add to what becomes a dense and loud finale, a little unsuspecting at the beginning of the song. Despite only being four songs, House Olympics manage to give their EP a strong intro and outro.

House Olympics benefit from having all three members sing – their different voices are noticed throughout the EP. Where the vocals are particularly throaty in “Tossing,” they’re sometimes clear and even spoken in “Everest.” This, alongside the punk/emo mix, helps the four songs to stay unique from each other, while maintaining a cohesive sound for the young band. “…And My Mind is Restless” is a promising release, as House Olympics are able to develop their own sound without rehashing what their predecessors have done. It’s within the realms of emo and punk, but isn’t truly either. It’s loud and emotional, and properly conflicted in both it’s tone and it’s themes.

The album can be streamed and downloaded here.

If you like this, try: I’ve come across a number of punk-influenced emo bands lately, so I’d link House Olympics up with Grammer and Sinai Vessel.

-By Andrew McNally

Sinai Vessel – “profanity [ep]”

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: A-

Key Track: “cuckold”

The guys in North Carolina’s Sinai Vessel were once approached after a show by someone, who may or may not have enjoyed the show, who called their music “punk for sissies.” The phrase “punk for sissies” is now draped across the band’s bandcamp page, as a source of inspiration. Taken in a non-derogatory way, the phrase fits the band – they’re punk, but one that’s smarter and more personal than most. There are hints of emo in their music, often in place of punk energy. Their new EP, “profanity,” is a solidly well-rounded listen that examines maturity and confusion, in a manner that switches from angry to introspective.

The EP doesn’t exactly start with any punches. Opener “cats” aligns itself a little closer to some twinkly emo than to punk, even if it’s examining small town religion. The vocals, as they are across the EP, are forceful, but the more midtempo music sets the tone of the EP – melodic and reflective, not always going for volume. The second track, “greatham,” is simply a forty second interlude. “cuckold,” possibly the EP’s best song, is a little louder and packs a secret punch in both it’s power and it’s poetry.

“drown around” matches the melodic and powerful nature of “cuckold,” with it’s screamed vocals and honest lyrics. Sinai Vessel are not focused on pulling intense punches, but the EP’s midpoint is it’s most forceful and loudest section. “flannery” is a very honest track, with the line “good country people with bad city hearts” repeated throughout. It serves as a slower song, and possibly the most developed on the whole EP. And “index on the oval” is a heavy and drawn-out finale, one that fits the EP well.

The band, consisting of Caleb Cordes on guitar, bass and vocals, Nathan Larson on drums and David Wimbish on horns, can easily create an atmosphere of cerebral and vulnerable punk, a largely untapped market. Sinai Vessel can be loud when they want to, and can even stretch themselves in post-punk (like on “index on the oval”). But they don’t overdo anything – they’re content playing midtempo and melodic rock most of the time. “profanity” is an eclectic work, one that shows Sinai Vessel have different intentions than most punk bands. Where the vocals are often intense, the music isn’t necessarily, and it’s a blend that entirely works. Sinai Vessel might be “punk for sissies,” but it’s punk for smart and despairing people, too.

You can stream and download the EP here.

If you like this, try: For the sound of Sinai Vessel, the emo-punk blend of Sleep Weather that I happened to have just reviewed. For the idea of Sinai Vessel, check out the band Swearin’, a relatively calm and poetic band that still qualifies as punk.

Japanther – “Instant Money Magic”

(Photo Credit: blastoutyourstereo.com)

Grade: C+

Key Tracks: “Dreams Come True” “Vicious”

The other day I wrote about how the Menzingers’ followed a perfect album with one that copies the format. I praised it, because it’s a band fleshing out their image. But there is an inverse of that, and it’s what Japanther has become. Japanther found a signature sound long ago, and since then they’ve copied it to the point where it’s become diluted. “Instant Money Magic” is a surefired fun album, but one that brings nothing to the table for a band that used to specialize in that.

“Instant Money Magic,” the band’s 23rd official release in a 13 year span, is an improvement over last year’s LP “Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart.” But just like that album, the band’s sound has become indescribably repetitive. Japanther formed as a riotous art-punk band, often basing songs around soundclips and doing performances in unique locales, but over the past few years they’ve settled into a groove of playing loud, fuzzy, optimistic surf-punk. And it’s never bad, but “Instant Money Magic” is just adding to the pile; we have way too much of a good thing. The band may have peaked with 2010’s great “Rock & Roll Ice Cream,” a short album that still had artsy elements, but presented a more straightforward energy. By now, it’s all energy, and too much of it.

Only three of the album’s fourteen songs stretch over two minutes, meaning Japanther has in no way lost their punk sensibilities. And the album is almost bursting with optimism, with titles like “Dreams Come True,” and songs with fuzzy, bright harmonies. Optimism-punk is not a genre, so in this sense, Japanther have kept it original. Japanther’s last few albums have provided energetic and fun summer soundtracks. But 12 of the 14 songs here sound too identical, all 12 being fast, guitar garage-punk, and they really don’t separate themselves from each other or their last few albums.

Albums like “Instant Money Magic” are a little tough to digest; if this were to be the first Japanther album you hear, it’d probably be a ton of fun, in it’s relentless energy and storytelling optimism. But longtime fans of the band might question their motives, with five largely identical albums in a row making their riotous art only a fond memory. So “Instant Money Magic” is both a quick listen that bridges heavy and fun, and an album that represents nothing new for the band, and feels a little lackluster. They won’t win any new fans, just check another box for their old ones.

If you like this, try: there’s tons of bands that have risen in Japanther’s wake, but my pick is Pangea’s near-perfect 2011 album, “Living Dummy”  (the band now goes as ‘together PANGEA’ but the album is credited to ‘Pangea’)

-By Andrew McNally

Human Kitten – “Manic Pixie Dream Boy”

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “San Diego” “Gender Bronoun”

Elijah Llinas’, aka singer-songwriter Human Kitten, second full-length album deals with struggling with cultural, societal and gender identities and the hushed lines between opposites. Llinas operates like Paul Baribeau – just a person with a guitar, using it more as a weapon to bring the lyrics home than as a lead instrument (although it’s not as almost abysmally basic as Baribeau’s playing). “Manic Pixie Dream Boy” is an honest look inside someone struggling to figure out exactly who they are.

Llinas has a voice fit for folk-punk, clear and strong, while still honest and raw. The vocals accurately reflect the varying emotions in the lyrics and add a very honest element to the music. And for one person with a guitar, Llinas has a firm grasp on songwriting. Whether lyrically or musically, the thirteen tracks on the album can differentiate themselves from each other. They all fit together, but Llinas employs tonal and volume shifts to keep it interesting. “San Diego” starts the album off on a reflective note, where “Share What Ya Got” ends on a guitar-heavy climax.

As mentioned, this album is lyric-focused. Llinas channels frustration with punk culture, and stresses with gender identity and acceptance. On opener “San Diego,” Llinas sings, “What have punks really done for the world?,” where later confessing to being a part of punk culture. And Llinas sings about gender on “Nature v. Nurture,” singing, “I told my doctor today that I am not a man / I am not a woman / Hell I don’t know what I am.” Later, on “Gender Bronoun,” “I’m caught between two separate identities and I can’t even decide on which one’s me.” Llinas’ poetry is more than honest, it’s a direct outburst. The songs are an inward portrayal at questioning one’s gender (and also, I just want to say, it’s 2014 and we still haven’t created a societal safe space for people questioning their gender. It’s very real and very prevalent). Llinas’ deeply poetic lyrics extend to depression, too, as on “I Still Don’t Want to Be Sad,” where Llinas sings, “I am sad most of the time but you can’t see it ’cause I keep it inside.” It’s heavy, deep, and relatable in one sentence, as folk-punk often is.

“Manic Pixie Dream Boy” is a proper folk-punk work; it’s acoustic but often fast, and lyrically devastating at almost every turn. Llinas is conflicted, and that’s something that maybe shouldn’t be analyzed and graded in a review, but it comes through in an honest and affecting way. The album looks at some societal standards in a confounding light and questions some fundamentals. But first and foremost, it’s an honest and inward release, one that’s, at times, all too easy to relate to. Folk-punk is often meant to disturb in some way, and Llinas takes the emotional route with a thought-provoking look into identity crises.

The album is available for purchase and streaming here.

If you like this, try: Paul Baribeau’s “Grand Ledge,” another completely solo and poetically affecting folk-punk release. (And I know I criticized Baribeau earlier but I truly love “Grand Ledge”)

-By Andrew McNally

The Menzingers – “Rented World”

(Photo Credit: Noisey)

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore” “Rodent”

*** Let me start, as I have a few times before, by saying that this review should be taken with a grain of salt, as my love for the Menzingers runs deep enough that it’s impossible for me to stay unbiased as I shriek and clap listening to their new album. ***

The only downside to releasing a heralding, magnum opus of an album is figuring out how to follow it. Look at the most magnum opus-y album of this generation: Titus Andronicus’ “The Monitor.” (Okay, it’s probably “Yeezus,” but for the sake of conversation). The band followed it up with a significantly more straightforward and approachable album, “Local Business” (that’s just as good and I do and will always defend it). But this is tougher for pop-punk group the Menzingers, because 2012’s “On the Impossible Past” is simply a “magnum opus” because of how good it is. Listening to it for the first time is as memorable as graduating or getting married. The band accidentally created a masterpiece. So the only way to follow up an album as good as it is to just stick to the formula.

“Rented World” opens with a track called “I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore.” It starts with a shrieking guitar and frantic energy, as any pop-punk opener should. But the song seems to slowly cool down, giving way a few times to just vocals. The follow-up, “Bad Things,” is strong but a lot more moderately-paced. This is how the Menzingers operate – their energy often feels forced, like they don’t quite have the heart to give it their all. And it fits them well, given their often lackluster-y existential lyrics. The album still has a ton of energy to it, but as with “Past,” the emotion comes first. Pop-punk has changed. This isn’t pizza, jorts and hating this town, this is death, addiction and overwhelming apathy.

For those playing along at home, the second track is indeed called “Bad Things.” “Past” had “Good Things” and “Nice Things,” and even those ironically-named times have taken a turn for the worse. While the album isn’t as interesting musically – it’s straighter, and it isn’t self-referential – it might just be even darker lyrically. “Past” was a cohesive album, because it told reflective stories. “Casey,” “Freedom Bridge,” “Nice Things” and “Gates” all tied specific memories to specific, lost people. But where that album was outward, this one is inward. There’s exceptions on both albums, of course, but “Rented World” is a look at all that’s wrong inside. The album is peppered with beautifully devastating lines like “I am only bad news / For you,” on “Rodent,” and “If everyone needs a crutch / I need a wheelchair” on first single and Key Track runner-up “In Remission.” “I know where your heartache exists,” “Nothing feels good anymore.” If “Past” was a sad look at a memory that can’t be relived, “World” is an honest look at a present that can’t be changed.

The Menzingers need to stop hogging talent. Sure, they’re a pop-punk band, they’re not the most talented group. But the band shares two great, similar singers in Tom May and Greg Barnett, and somehow, sharing rough lyrics between two singers deepens their impact. This album’s only real fault is lacking the arc that made “On the Impossible Past” the overnight success it is. But again, it’s an extremely tough act to follow. They do branch out just a little – “Transient Love” is a legit slower song, and almost a minute longer than any song on it’s predecessor. And it’s followed by “The Talk,” a >2:30 kicker that, at times, sounds more like traditional early 00’s pop-punk than their own moody blend. Otherwise, “Rented World” is simply a collection of songs meant to beat you up inside, and it certainly succeeds. It’s going to forever be compared to “Past,” but it doesn’t need to be; it’s a separate, confident and viable album that’s going to be remembered nearly as fondly. It’s crisp and concise; inspired and emotional, and loud as all hell. Effortlessly great songs like “Hearts Unknown” and “In Remission” prove that the Menzingers know exactly what they’re doing. So don’t fear a mediocre follow-up, and prep your heart and stomach in advance.

If you like this, try: This is a tough one, but as mentioned before, I defend Titus Andronicus’ “Local Business” to death. It’s another example of capitalizing on an insurmountable predecessor in a more straightforward but equally inspired manner.

-By Andrew McNally

The Creeping Ivies – “Ghost World”

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: A

Key Tracks: “Ghost World” “The Creeps”

An immediate comparison between the Creeping Ivies and the Black Keys or the White Stripes might be unwarranted, but tough to ignore – the Creeping Ivies are a guitar and drums duo, making loud and fuzzy garage-blues-punk that calls back to their idols. But that’s only a jumping-off point, because the Creeping Ivies harken back to an entirely different era of music. “Ghost World,” their second full-length, sounds more like an album that would fit right in at a dark NY punk club in 1979.

The Scottish band – consisting of Becca Bomb and Duncan Destruction (real names, I’ll continue to pretend) – use bluesy-garage rock to channel some of the more inventive 80’s punk. Becca’s wide vocals dominate the album, often booming over the guitar and drums. It’s almost impossible not to be reminded of Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex and Exene Cervenka of X, two 80’s punk bands that often incorporated blues and jazz into their music. And like Styrene and Cervenka, Becca’s vocals determine the song, especially on trippier songs like the excellent “Ramona Wolf.” Alternately cool, standard and hollering, Becca’s vocals are disarmingly decisive, and go against the rather lackluster vocals of most other garage bands today.

While other blues-punk bands often use blues as the center of their music, the Creeping Ivies tend to gravitate more towards punk and, in the aftermath, volume. The garage and blues elements help to pump the songs up and differentiate them, but are background parts. Songs like “The Creeps” sound ripped out of a Cramps album, not from a garage somewhere in Tennessee. And it helps give the songs energy. Even if the album is bluesy, it isn’t moody or too into itself, like the Black Keys can sometimes get. Instead, it’s loud and fun, never taking itself too seriously.

So whether the Creeping Ivies would qualify more as “blues” or “punk” I think would go to the latter. Penultimate track “What Would Johnny Ramone Do?” brings forth angst about MTV and the radio while channeling, again, an idol. “Ghost World” packs a bigger punch than first expected, and sounds very original in the midst of some bands that are starting to sound too similar. It’s loud, fun, distorted, and over not too long after it begins. It’s an album for a couple different eras, as long as it’s turned up.

The album is available for streaming and purchase here. (Bandcamp has a money conversion)

If you like this, try: As mentioned, I was reminded of the Cramps, so the Cramps’ classic 1980 debut, “Songs the Lord Taught Us.”

-By Andrew McNally