The Ergs!/Lemuria Split

A split seven inch between two of pop punk's most beloved bands; New Jersey's The Ergs! and New York's Lemuria. Both bands have made a pretty big splash in the pop punk scene, so it's no wonder these two have a split together. The Ergs! play something like a mix of the Ramones, Descendents, and some Black Flag for good measure. It's a wonderful combination of influences. Lemuria are a female fronted pop punk band with a tinge of indie rock thrown in for good measure.

The split opens with the Ergs!, who use their song "Introducing Morrissey" as their lead off. It's a very catchy, fast-paced pop punk song. Jeff's guitar has an interesting tone throughout the intro/chorus, and Mike's drumming is spot on as always. Joey's bass is a little low in the mix; it's not terrible sounding, but, he is a very talented bassist and it should be mixed in better. Mike's vocals are something to marvel over; at multiple points in the song his voice cracks and at other points it's the most perfect voice you've ever heard. Their second song is a cover of "Hey Jealousy". The band puts a lot of feeling into this song, it's a very respectable cover that actually rivals the Gin Blossoms' original version. The solo towards the middle really shows off the talent that all the band members have. The Ergs! side is a great example of why they are one of the greatest modern pop punks.

The Lemuria side starts with "Little Silver Children". It's a noisy pop punk tune with dual vocals by Alex and Sheena, however, the vocals don't have much energy, they seem to be lacking in effort. The sound of the instruments is a little rough too, though you can plainly hear what each members is doing. Lemuria's second song, "Clean", is a far superior song. It starts with a bass line that reminds me of Big Black, and when Sheena's vocals kick in, you can tell you're in for a treat. The track has much more energy than the previous, with Sheena's vocals having a lot more energy. It's a really good pop punk tune.

Split albums are an iffy thing for bands; one side may completely out shine the other, or both bands may suck. With this split though, both are talented bands. And while both play pop punk, there's enough diversity between the two to keep the record sounding interesting. It's a nice show case of what proper pop punk bands can do.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-Ergs-Lemuria-Split-7/dp/B0013UXKR6

It's out of print from Art Of The Underground, however, a digital copy is only about $4 from Amazon.

Midget Tossing

Yellowcard are a very popular band right now, thanks to the success of Ocean Avenue. But, before the popularity, before Ocean Avenue, and before Ryan Key, Yellowcard had Ben Dobson and speed. Midget Tossing is Yellowcard's first album, released in 1997 on DIY Records. The band line-up is vastly different from now; featuring a different singer, bassist, and guitarist. The band played melodic hardcore, sort of like old Saves The Day. Unlike Ryan, Ben's vocals are very rough, and the drumming was much faster and harder. If you're familiar with only post-2000 Yellowcard, you're in for something completely different with this album.

The album opens with "2 Quarts", and you can tell from the first drum hits and guitar strokes that this Yellowcard is nothing like you've heard before. Ben's vocals have such urgency in his singing, like he means each word he says. The back up vocals during the chorus are a nice touch to the song. The band keeps the energy going as they move into the next song, the even shorter and even faster "Possessions". During this song, Ben's vocals remind me of Jeff Ott with the way he enunciates certain words. In the last half of the song, there's an odd piano solo, before the band moves right back into the music. "Sue" takes the place as the third track, and the instrumentation of this song strikes me as very Lifetime influenced. It's a very catchy song, with gang vocals throughout the whole song. Track four, "American't", is an amazing track. It opens with a groovy bass line and a ska like guitar tone, before the rest of the music erupts. The whole band has so much energy during these first few songs, it's amazing what having a new lead singer did for their sound. "Up Hill Both Ways" has a very haunting and slow intro, changing the pace the album previously. Ben Dobson does back up vocals on this song, making the singing sound more like current Yellowcard; cleaner, poppier, more like actual singing. However, after the first chorus, it sounds more like the rest of the album, which isn't a bad thing. The background vocals throughout the whole song really help it out.

The first song on the last half of the album, "Me First", is the first time you can distinctly hear the violin. Right off the bat, the inclusion of the violin in the intro sets this song apart from the rest of the album, and generally apart from many other punk bands. They have a completely new instrument that punk bands don't have and it's nice to see the inclusion. "For The Longest Time" is a shorter track, with a hardcore punk chorus, but a pop verse, with "oohs" featured for background vocals. The snare rolls on "Get Off The Couch" really show how talented of a drummer LP is. The next song is an instrument, appropriately titled "Interlewd"; it really showcases what someone who knows how to play the violin can do, and it mixes very nicely with the acoustic guitar throughout. After the mellow and low-key instrumental, the band brings the energy level back with "Someday". It's good, but the gang vocals get very old and repetitive by this point. The last song, "Goodbye", is a six minute monster of an outro; changing tempos, different vocal styles, with bridges that show off the talent each musician involved has, and is split up into two distinct parts, after around a minute of silence.

Yellowcard have made some drastic changes to their sound; with this album sounding different from anything after the year 2000. If you're a fan of melodic hardcore, this album is a great one to go with. The band has a lot of energy when they play and you can tell that Ben means what he sings. However, the gang vocals and repetitiveness of the style of music gets real old. For a band that has a violin, with someone that can actually play it too, they don't show it off too well. All-in-all, an album worth checking out.

8/10

Sadly, this album is out of print as well. If you can find it on eBay, get it. Trust me. Otherwise, peruse the interwebs.

The Kids Will Have Their Say

SS Decontrol, SSD, Society System Decontrol, or whatever else you refer to them as, were a hardcore punk band from Boston formed around '81, that morphed into a shitty metal band around '84. Prior to their venture into metal, SSD played some of the best hardcore during their time.

Released in '82 as a joint album on their own X-Claim and Ian MacKaye's Dischord Records, The Kids Will Have Their Say is a long out of print gem in hardcore punk. The album charges through eighteen tracks in only twenty minutes, slowing down only for the slow dirges, "How Much Art?" and "Police Beat", both of which feature very heavy bass lines. The opening track "Boiling Point", introduces the quick and fierce music that continues on over the album. The second song, "Fight Them" is the only song prior to "How Much Art?" that is over a minute, and still maintains the same speedy hardcore played on the other songs. Chris Foley's frantic drumming shines on the whole album, and as his furious hits of every drum piece mix with Springa's deep and burly vocals they share a certain level of intensity, while Al Barile's and Jaime Sciarappa's competent but fast guitar work help drive through the rest of the album. As previously mentioned, most of the album is under a minute hardcore music, except for the album's two slow songs. "How Much Art?" is the only track over three minutes; it's very slow paced, and features Springa screaming throughout the whole song as the rest of the members trudge through playing their instruments. "Police Beat" is the only other slower paced song, featuring searing lyrics and vocals and an intro bass line courtesy of Jaime.

The major downside of the album is the poor recording quality it suffers from, though Sam argues it gives the album character. Other than the poor recording quality, the album is a very intense look at what the hardcore punk scene started as. And even though the band ventured into metal territory and released sub-par albums, The Kids Will Have Their Say outshines those releases and proves that SSD were, at one point, one of the best bands.

6.5/10

Sadly, the album is long out of print and is usually a pretty pricey buy on eBay. Best bet is to wait until it's re-released, if ever.

(This review was co-written by myself and Sam Francois)

Death By Television

The Lillingtons were a pop punk band from Wyoming, around from '96 to '01 (and kind of from '06 to '08). Though always a pop punk, their later albums were different from their first. Their debut album, Shit Out Of Luck, was definitely a Ramones-core pop punk album. Pretty basic instrumentation with immature lyrics, i.e., My Genitals Itch. It was catchy, really catchy, but plenty of bands do the same thing. Then, in 1999, they released their sophomore album, Death By Television. With a complete lyric overhaul to a 1950s sci-fi kind of thing, The Lillingtons both matured and became better musicians.

The albums opener, "War Of The Worlds", serves as a great lead-off track. Opening with a great guitar solo, Kody Templeman's (now of Teenage Bottlerocket) voice has become much better. As the track leads into the second song, the energy keeps flowing, with "Don't Trust The Humanoids" being even shorter and faster than the previous track. Track three though slows things down a tad. Clocking in at 3:16, "Black Hole In My Mind" is the longest song on the album. Complete with guitar solos and backing vocals, the track serves to show just how good of musicians the entire band really is. The band really picks up the speed on "Invasion Of The Saucermen". The song is blazing fast, the chorus is catchy; complete with repeated lines. The song has a breakdown in the middle, which really puts the brakes on the song and leads it into the mellower next few tracks. The next song, the slower paced "You're The Only One" hails back to their first album for lyrically content. It's a standard pop punk love tune. They're nice, they make you smile, but they're so played out.

After their love song, the album reverts back to the science fiction themed lyrics with song titles like "I Came From The Future", "Robots In My Dreams", etc. The sci-fi themed album is a great concept and really separates Death By Television from the rest of the standard pop punk albums released at the same. Sure, most of the instrumentation is pretty generic, especially the drumming, but, it's catchy and it keeps the songs moving. The Lillingtons were a great pop punk from the 90s, and luckily Kody keeps up with the current pop punk scene by playing in Teenage Bottlerocket.

9/10

http://redscare.storenvy.com/products/10141-the-lillingtons-death-by-television-cd-cccp-105-2
Red Scare re-released the album and it's only nine dollars!

Dead Ringer

Some of you may or may not be familiar with Dead Ringer. If you fall in the first category, then you've probably discovered the band through singer/guitarist Kristia Moya's YouTube page. If you fall into the latter, I would suggest getting on that. They're a female fronted pop punk band that also has some male vocals; think RVIVR with less male vocals and less ridiculous hair cuts.

First off, the recording quality of this demo is impeccable, sounds nothing like a demo. The sound quality is great and the mixing of the instruments sounds fantastic. The bass is a little hard to detect, but, such is the curse of a bass player. All three tracks are pretty fast paced, which works well for the band. The lyrics are well written, none of the standard "hey, we're a pop punk band that sings about girls and girls and girls". I suppose that comes with being fronted by a girl. At any rate, the lyrics are very easy to relate to; something that's become pretty hard to come by these days. The instrumentation is a little standard for pop punk, not much changes from each track either. Aside from the lack of change up on instrumentation, the songs are good and very catchy.

For this being a demo, it's a great place for the band to start. A well recorded and mixed demo, great lyrics, catchy music. If this is where the bands starts at with a demo, I'm very much looking forward to what Dead Ringer does with a full length release. A good band with good music, definitely worth listening to for a pick me up or when you're already in a mood.

7/10

http://deadringer.bandcamp.com/

The demo is completely free; so this is something easy to pick up and listen to on a regular basis.

American Slang

The Gaslight Anthem; one of the greatest modern punk rock bands in existence. Every album the band releases is a solid one, and 2010 was no different. The follow up to 2008's The '59 Sound, their third album, second for SideOneDummy, American Slang, continues to showcase the talents Brian Fallon and gang have with songwriting. Recorded in about a month, this album shows the influence that two specific artists have had on The Gaslight Anthem; Springsteen and The Replacements.

The whole album itself is relatively short; ten songs, around thirty-five minutes. This short length is the only downside to the album as a whole. However, the length seems to work well for each individual track. Each song on here stands up great as a single track, and as a whole album; near perfect. The first couple of songs are a tad on the faster side; twin guitar sound throughout each track, standard drumming. Nothing shown is too fancy and it sounds fantastic. Instead of showing off what random solo each member can do, they write a song with each instrument working cohesively together. The fourth song, "The Diamond Church Street Choir", opens with some of the catchiest guitar strumming of any intro, before breaking into a catchy chorus.The next track slows things down though. "The Queen Of Lower Chelsea" is a track that shines because of how different it is. Focusing on a bass line that drives the song forward, Brian's voice is on the hushed side, with choruses featuring what sounds like a choir in the background. After this, the band moves back into their fast tempo intros, leading into my favorite song on the whole album, "Boxer". Combining the best parts of previous tracks, catchy upbeat intro, the dual guitars, and a driving bass line throughout, "Boxer" is a perfect example of what a talented band can do. The album maintains the same pace until the final track, which is the longest on the album. This song's intro is a haunting one. With singing by Brian, backed up by quiet talking done by Alex, the track is something completely unlike anything else on the album, and yet fits perfectly as the album closer.

 It's rare for a band to be continually amazing with each release, a rare feat achieved by few bands. And yet The Gaslight Anthem has no problem doing just that. Each album released is different from the previous but is still amazing. American Slang is a phenomenal album; one you can listen to the whole way through over and over again or one where you can listen to just a single song from it and still have it sound amazing. So congrats, Gaslight. Because your album contains songs that are great on their own, and even better when listened to consecutively, you receive the first ten I have given.

10/10

http://store.sideonedummy.com/the-gaslight-anthem-american-slang-2010-cd.html

I can understand not getting the others, but, seriously; this is eight dollars for a perfect album. You're an idiot if you pass this up.

Pink Razors

It's no secret that Canada's Chixdiggit! are one of their most beloved pop punk exports. Having been around since '91, they've had a nice long tenure playing pop punk. They actually have a new album that drops tomorrow. But, this review is about their 2005 effort, Pink Razors. Clocking in around twenty-seven minutes with thirteen tracks, the average song is only two minutes. However, this is all the time the band needs for catchy songs about girls. playing music, and a Canadian two dollar store.

The album opens with "Welcome to the Daiso", which, according the extra commentary, is a two dollar store in Canada. Though a nice opening track, the solo is a little rough around the edges. The backing vocals are a nice touch though. The next cut on the album is my favorite song on the whole album. "I Remember You" is a song about girlfriend's best friends. It's a song that gets stuck in your head for hours; which is plenty of plays since the song is less than three minutes. The solo is different from the previous track; and impressive, it was made up on the spot. The third song is only thirty seconds long, making it one of the more forgettable and less impressive songs on the whole, a small stain on a nice album.

The album doesn't change much until the song "J Crew". Featuring a slower intro with just vocals and guitar, it's a nice change of pace on the album, helping to move it along and mix up things. The downside to this is that all the songs are similar and follow the same formula yet again, until the song "C.G.I.T.", another slower paced song. The vocals are pretty much the same, however, the lyrics seem more mature and the instrumentation just seems better. The last few cuts are forgettable, but, the last song, "Nobody Understands Me" is something completely different. Containing a bass intro with a bass line that resonates throughout the whole song, there's a keyboard used in it. The keyboard really changes things up, keeping the end of the album fresh. There's also a band commentary, with everyone involved in the making listening to the songs and giving their take on each song.


All in all, Chixdiggit! are a great band. They play their music well and write catchy songs. The downside is that most every song sounds exactly the same. They tend to follow the same formula making it tough to decipher the different tracks, albeit, not as tough as a Bad Religion album. Overall though, if you're a fan of pop punk, Pink Razors is a good album to pick for a few album spins.

6/10

http://www.fatwreck.com/record/detail/692

It's available for purchase directly from Fat Wreck. It's only 8 bucks for the record, 10 for the CD.