Reviews

Moms Basement

Egghead. Dumb Songs for Smart People LP

This is the first vinyl release of the 1999 compilation put out by Mutant Pop Records on CD. NYC’s EGGHEAD plays simple, lo-fi punk pop songs about unrequited love, bad jobs, and growing up. No doubt this could have been a Lookout! release, as the songs stand up to the oeuvre of the MR. T EXPERIENCE, SQUIRTGUN, and the TEEN IDOLS. What sets this apart is the rough, rushed, underground sound and the feeling that they don’t take themselves too seriously, but are equally adept at crafting two-minute irreverent opuses.

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.

Yes Flag Grand Bystander LP

This is well-recorded pop punk, and the songs are exactly what you’d expect—just like DOC HOPPER, the A.G’S, the ERGS!, TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET, CHIXDIGGIT, CLEATUS, BOUNCING SOULS, a couple of those ALL records, and such. This is a perfect record if you have a crush, are getting dumped, wanna ask a person if they like you as much as you like them, are bummed about a pal that is dating a person you like, are bummed about the people you let down, are being hurt, are giving up on a crush, are remembering what being kids was like, are paying too much to see a band you like, and so on, all done in a sing-along way. This is a solid record, and hits on all the MXPX and DESCENDENTS points that it should for a first date. Also, there are sixteen tracks on here. So go ahead and listen to the linked song, add fifteen more to that, and there you go.