Labels: Dry Heave
Review by: MH
I wasn’t expecting to see new music by Vanilla Pod anytime soon. They have been around forever and have churned out numerous really good albums (see all the other reviews of Vanilla Pod’s releases on this website). I revisit them often enough and the last time I saw them live was with China Drum at the Garage about 3 years ago. I thought Vanilla Pod were superb that night – the set list was full of hits I hadn’t listened to in ages.
This new record is seven new songs – I don’t know how the line-up has changed over the years but soundwise it’s still in the melodic skate-punk arena. The recording kind of feels live and somewhat raw. I’m not going to tell you that this is their best stuff but I’d enjoy these songs live with a beer or two and they’ve still got bags of energy after all these years. If you’re new to Vanilla Pod I would suggest starting with either “Poets on Payday” or “Surrounded By Idiots” which are both stacked with hits and would be the two albums I’d pick out as their best. The best two songs on here for me are the coupling towards the end of “Wishing Well” and “Deaf Lugs”.