Far From FinishedIt's funny, when I first popped this on without having any background history on this band, I said to myself, "Damn, these guys must be from MA or something." Well, I was right and they're from Boston, MA to be exact, home of the Dropkick Murphys, The Unseen, The Ducky Boys and many other great punk acts.
Apparently these guys were supposed to release this album back in November on Thorp Records brother label, Sailor's Grave Records but for one reason or another things fell through and Think Fast!, who are becoming more and more diverse with each release, came in and stepped up to the plate to get this out in the most appropriate time, summer. One of the reasons Sailor's Grave had interest in these guys is because the band features Mark Lind (brother of Rob Lind), who has spent time in Sinners and Saints as well as The Ducky Boys and has also found time to release a solo record (the latter two were released by SGR).
There are thirteen tracks of rock solid punk rock that will appeal to fans of The Bouncing Souls, Bad Religion and other similar bands. For the most part the songs are kept to a reasonable length, usually lasting anywhere from 2:30 to 3:30. Only a few songs seem to drag a bit.
These guys are pretty versatile with their song writing, the song "Just Us Kids (November)" has a bit of a rockabilly sound to it and the song "Roses and Razor Blades" has a little bit of ska flavor tucked in there. There's also some obvious pop-punk hooks that will gain the approval from the girls who used to hold their "I LOVE YOUR CARSON" signs.
Any band that can incorporate the words Pabst (Blue Ribbon) and cunt into an album is a-okay in my books. The one thing that can turn a band like this into a steaming pile of shit is the lyrics. It could go in one of two ways:
1. Do it by having introspective lyrics about life and it's trials and tribulations that aren't gay and emo
2. Do it like a bunch of herby emo kids who will sing about bullshit HS love, trying to get into the pants of 14yr olds.
This falls on the latter, the lyrics are pretty reminiscent of The Ducky Boys. They touch on the passing of a beloved friend, "Just Us Kids (November)", a girl with an identity crisis "Wanna Be A Catastrophe", a young kid going off to war "Twenty-One Guns", and various other songs about the lows and highs of life.
Honestly, I'm a little surprised this was recorded by Jim Siegel over at The Outpost. Yeah these guys are from Boston, MA but I don't know, I don't think I've ever heard an album come out of that studio so fucking polished. I mean this shit sounds like it was recorded by a band that is on Atlantic Records or something. It's really up to the individual listener to decide whether or not this helps or hurts the album. In my opinion, it adds to the album, I mean it isn't like these guys are playing some straight up street punk or anything like that where it's all about low budget recordings. The incorporation of other instruments such as a tenor saxophone, piano and organs adds some spice to the recording. The little samples thrown in now and again also serve as extra spices to the overall dish.
The layout is bare boned as a mother fucker. The front cover is just a trio (although the album credits the band as a five piece) sitting on a couch in front of busted ass TV. On the back of the album is the same picture minus the band members. The four page booklet is printed on gloss paper and displays the lyrics on top of yellow lined paper over a yellow paper background. Not really much of a treat for the eyes but whatever.
Rating: 3/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Heros And Ghosts and Just Us Kids (November)
Synopsis: This will obviously appeal to a broad fan base, whether you're into pop punk, street punk, hardcore, etc., and I'm sure just the fact Mark Lind is in this band will give them a steady stream of fans to their shows. Check out some songs and where the band is headed on their current tour: Click Here