Broken Barcodes

Reviews

Broken Barcodes Jeff Wants a Rematch EP

You’re setting the bar high if, like BROKEN BARCODES, you believe your music is RAMONES-core. Unfortunately, the Columbus, OH trio opens their new EP Jeff Wants a Rematch with a title track that decides the route to pop punk heaven is to slow things down, dial down the pop without adding more punk, and replace melody with monotony. It’s not a promising start, but by hitting on the genius idea of opening with the collection’s weakest song, subsequent tracks shine, relatively speaking, by comparison. After the misstep of “Jeff Wants a Rematch,” the nonsensical, minute-long blast of “PTSD” is almost on target, as is “Six Minutes”—thankfully less than two-and-a-half minutes, and inspired by Vision Quest, a formulaic ’80s wrestling-themed movie. “Cathy,” the last of the ten-minute EP’s four songs, can’t even keep up with those average songs, and like the title track is best forgotten. BROKEN BARCODES never hit the heights they’re aiming for, but they’re also not quite as bad as they threaten to be.

Broken Barcodes / Feral Housecats Runnin’ Wild in the Streets of Columbus split 10″

BROKEN BARCODES has nothing groundbreaking here, but oh my golly, is this catchy! I’m certain that their shows are a bunch of pals jumping around and singing along. All the catchiness of the ERGS, STEINWAYS, HOUSEBOAT, DIRT BIKE ANNIE, and LOST LOCKER COMBO. I get the feeling that these guys are best friends and their kids or dogs or cats prolly have play dates together while they play behind a warehouse or at the bass player’s aunt’s retirement party. This is the best way to do pop punk as an adult, wherein you abandon all the songs about crushes (because it gets creepy when you’re no longer under twenty) and dive headfirst into the silly, fun, everyday stuffs. FERAL HOUSECATS, with their terrifying band name, hit just as hard, but they pull their silliness from late ’70s and early ’80s Ohio à la DEVO-esque B-sides, RUBBER CITY REBELS, PAGANS, or BALONEY HEADS. FERAL HOUSECATS, still a very terrifying name, continue to impress with a charming, inept quality that is almost hypnotic and always on the cusp of falling apart. Both of these bands complement each other very well, and I wish there was a way I could make them my friends and make them want to drive to Northern Michigan and play in a forest near me for the squirrels and deers and me and such.

Broken Barcodes Nothing Groundbreaking Here LP

The biggest crime of this record is that it’s boring. I have a feeling, based on their album title, that they are aware. Everything about this is amateurish. That first song’s drumming is atrocious. Anyways, this is the latest occurrence of scraping the bottom of the “punk nostalgia” barrel. Did you or someone you know listen to bands like the QUEERS, SCREECHING WEASEL, and…OK, everyone stop. Hang on a second. They have a song called “January 6 (The Most Idiotic Day in Modern American History).” It’s also bad, but what a title! The pacing is boring and the lyrics are pretty cringe. I feel I need to break it to you that romanticized pop punk is not the best venue to recruit political activists. And in the very next song, you sing about how your girl gets “five stars from your heart.” It’s super tone-deaf. Thanks for being on the right side of history, but, like, make a PROPAGANDHI-worship band instead. Based on their Bandcamp description, they are not taking this very seriously: “Three neighborhood dads in need of a hobby, united united in a quest to fend off boredom, attain unfulfilled juvenile dreams, and make use of those dusty instruments, all while trying not to piss off the neighbors.” Also, by the way, the drumming starts to suck again on “I Don’t Sleep a Lot.” No thanks.

Broken Barcodes Brainwashed & Braindead CD

Pop-punk-ish growls, sneers, and power chords abound here. This is a really ubiquitous combo, but something about this CD feels distinctly ’90s. Maybe it’s the polished and poppy guitars sprinkled with a touch of Epitaph-style hardcore? Maybe it’s the cover? Maybe it’s the CD format? A good-natured, meatheaded ride.

Broken Barcodes Get in the Van CD

Five songs of RAMONES-inspired pop punk. Nothing groundbreaking here. Your standard RAMONES-core fare, although the tempo of these songs is much slower than they probably should be for this type of stuff. If this was a bit more peppy, it’d serve them well. The cover art’s nod to the Henry Rollins book that this EP is named after was kinda “ha-ha” funny.