Labels: No Idea Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Hot diggity, a punk rock album that sounds any good, what is the world coming to? This slab o’ wax from the No Idea gang deals you up 10 cuts of some high finery. Tuneful and rockin’ melodic punk that ain’t pop, and ain’t shit either. Early comparison to be made is to label mates, Fay Wray. It’s that same sort of free wheeling sound of a band that is so tight, that it can pull off ‘messy’ without descending into the pit labelled “sucks”. Throw in some similar nasally vocals, blasting guitars, catchy rhythms, it’s all set to induce cataclysmic bounces around the room. It’s also got that similar, sort of indie rock feel that helps make it less straight forward. They don’t actually share band members with the Wray, but the insert does hint at some cross pollenation somewhere a long the line if you do some name checking.
Stand out songs for me include the mighty “Science Fiction” featuring the line “dig up more of that green shit, and trade it with the Russians, who are traditionally hated” that reminded of last winter when me and my Leicester housemate of the time went on what was to be a futile search for Russian hats, only to give up when we couldn’t find any with hammer & sickle badges on. Also opening track “Lying To You” which sure is some damn catchy music indeed.
Lyrics are good, sometimes fun, sometimes serious, like, uh, that same band I kept mentioning earlier. Extra coolness for “Haiti”, with a thought provoking point about Miami’s approach to immigration, “travel down this road to the port of Miami, they’re turning them away every day … If we all came over on a boat, how can you act like you walked here on water?”
So yeah, it rocks. Chalk another one up. Keep on keepin’ on, No Idea.