Reviews

Fail Harmonic

Amazing Transparent Man Print is Dead (20th Anniversary Edition) LP

Recorded at Sonic Iguana Studios, which is prolly best known for SCREECHING WEASEL, BOLLWEEVILS, SQUIRTGUN, and so on and on. This is the 20th anniversary edition of this LP, so it just goes to show that someone is still interested. This is a fine record in the vein of BLINK-182 and such. I read on the band’s Bandcamp page that the original CD, released in 2005, was a “North Star for early 2000s pop punk” enthusiasts. I somehow missed it when it came out, but now we all have an opportunity to grab a piece of history or whatever. The CD cover looks like The Catcher in the Rye, whereas this LP (20th Anniversary Edition) doesn’t so much.

The Remote Controls Too Tough CD

I fucking love this record. Pop punk done beyond right with RAMONES riffs as a foundation, building on top of it with Midwestern melody (think NAKED RAYGUN around Jettison), and topping things off with nods to the golden era of Lookout! Records pop punk (SCREECHING WEASEL/the QUEERS’ best moments). Catchy as hell, great raspy vocals, with melodic and tempo changes to keep things interesting through the beefy runtime the fourteen tracks get up to. This is what guitar-driven melodic punk should be shooting for, killer release.