Tag Archives for punk

Roomrunner – “Ideal Cities”

(Photo Credit: Stereogum)

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “Bait Car,” “Wojtek”

The dream of the 90’s is alive in Baltimore. Roomrunner gleefully throw ode to some of the early 90’s grunge and noise rock bands. Nirvana is idolized through fast rhythms that let a punk influence bleed heavily through. Pavement is redrawn through heavy distortion that adds to the melodies and through the rough transitions between songs. Roomrunner never tries to be conventional. The opening track, “Bait Car” is an assault on time signatures that are sometimes impossible to decipher. “Wotjek” sounds like more of a poppy side to the band, until the chorus, featuring rhythms of pure feedback that are different on each passby. The finale, “Snac Error,” ends with a waving drone of guitar that takes up a good chunk of the track.

“Ideal Cities” is over in about a half hour, and it is one of the rare times where the short length of a punk album does not feel entirely fulfilling. The album wasn’t one idea stretched into a certain number of tracks, but a bunch of little experimentations that left me wanting more. This is hardly a criticism, as the band made an interesting record that sounds fresh but resembles the pre-grunge bands of yesteryear. It is melodic and noisy, all while maintaining a sense of fun. Pavement and the Pixies would be proud.

If you like this, try: “Living Dummy” by Pangea (2o12). More of a conventional (surf-)punk record, but there is a similarity between bands, I cannot emphasize enough my love for “Living Dummy”

-By Andrew McNally

Larry And His Flask – “By the Lamplight”

(Photo Credit: Brooklyn Vegan)

Grade: B

Key Tracks: “Pandemonium,” “The Battle For Clear Sight”

“By the Lamplight,” the second official release for the band Larry and His Flask, begins a capella. It only stays that way for a few beats, but it is enough for the band to set the stages. Larry And His Flask are, at the end of the day, a punk band. Yet the banjos and intense acoustic guitar are equally reminiscent of both folk and folk-punk bands, far away from the slight Irish tone to their music. They are a diverse band, taking their inspirations more from cultures than genres, like a Gogol Bordello without an eccentric lead singer.  Their second official release follows this trend, although it is a little more standard than their previous full-length. Still, the a capella opening acts as a bizarre intro for an unfamiliar listener and a gleefully expected one for fans.

When Larry and His Flask are at their best, which is often, they invoke one-thirds Mumford & Sons speed-folk and two-thirds Nekromantix rockabilly punk. The opening half of the album sees them accomplishing this frequently. Early track “The Battle For Clear Sight” has a nice addition of a female singer, Jenny Owen Youngs. The second half of the album gets a little bogged down in songs that sound a little too unoriginal, because of an already high standard that has been previously set. Still, the album’s fastest and slowest tracks, “Home of the Slave” and “All That We’ve Seen,” help to break it up some. And the band always sounds like they are having fun in the studio, which transposes to the listener. They are a fun band, one that genuinely enjoys what they are recording.

“By the Lamplight” is a little less experimental than their previous effort, but it still ranks the band among the most experimental bands in punk music. Their sound is equal parts Celtic punk, rockabilly and folk, and their diversity makes for a truly interesting band. I learned about this band after seeing them in Brooklyn open for the Menzingers (a perfect band), at a show that Gogol Bordello was coincidentally supposed to play at (it got cancelled part way through because of weather). If Larry and His Flask come your way, I recommend them live. Their diversity translates to a fun live show.

If you like this, try: Frank Turner’s “England Keep My Bones,” another diverse Irish-folk-punk musician whose best album is the second most recent.

By Andrew McNally

The Ducky Boys – “Dead End Streets”

Photo Credit: Ducky Boys bandcamp page

Photo Credit: Ducky Boys bandcamp page

Grade: B

Key Tracks: “Up, Down & Wrong,” “I Was Intoxicated”

Boston street-punk legends the Ducky Boys returned from a second hiatus and even more line-up changes in 2011, and their second album since is a solid effort. It isn’t a goldmine, but it holds up remarkably well amongst the albums of their other aging contemporaries. The Ducky Boys have stuck to the same successful status quo, and it produces another good album. Lyrically, the album is kind of all over the place, in a good way. There is some emotional damage coming through in some lyrics, as the Ducky Boys have always defied some punk stereotypes and been ones to open up and explore themselves. There is, of course, typical street-punk songs too. Songs like the title track and the opener “You Don’t Wanna Know Me” exemplify the 90’s Boston street-punk scene that brought them thus far.

Musically, most tracks follow the simple punk formula, which is completely expected. In fact, it is welcoming to embrace, as most punk bands that survive the same length of time that the Ducky Boys have often open to slower and catchier music without any reason. The Ducky Boys have reason when they do, as they occasionally embrace acoustic, bluesy or reggae-inspired rhythms throughout the album, which provide some nice breaks in between stacks of punk songs. When the Boys switch up their influences, they work, because they have their reasoning to back it.

“Dead End Streets,” like many other punk albums, does begin to become tedious by the end, as the band’s better ideas are exhausted earlier in the album. Punk albums tend to have a way of making 34 minutes feel longer. “Dead End Streets” is still a strong record though. It is not completely original, and it does not stand up against classic punk. It does not try to be anything more than what it is, though, and it excels as an enjoyable and listenable street-punk record from some legends.

If you like this, try: “State of Grace” by Street Dogs, 2008.

-By Andrew McNally