Fun street punk outing here—hard-hitting songs, high-energy vocalist, and a lead guitarist serving up some tasty licks. Nothing groundbreaking, but if you’re into stuff like STREET BRATS and early DROPKICK MURPHYS, you’ll dig this. Apparently the lead guitarist used to play with RIVER CITY REBELS, and while I can’t find which era he belonged to, they’re a good comparison point as well.
Long-running pop punk New Englanders RIVER CITY REBELS return with a new four-track EP that’s brimming with cultural and societal critique, just as they’ve been doing since the turn of the millennium. Tracks like “Rock a Cross” and “Unless You’re White” are outward-looking indictments that could be about one specific person or a broad gesture to half the damn country. The big payoff on this record is the closing track “Abuse Myself.” Here, the critique turns inward and we are treated to a sub-90-second scorcher. Ending with the mirror flipped on themselves, RIVER CITY REBELS remind you what can happen to yourself, perhaps as a byproduct of the dumpster fires happening all around you.
I really had no idea what to expect here with a band named SUPERSONIC DEUCES. Actually, no. That’s not true. I fully expected this to be some sort of filthy grindcore act. Instead, SUPERSONIC DEUCES is a self-proclaimed “action rock” band, which is just another way to say garage rock for old Gen X-ers. Hot rod imagery paired with a ton of wah-pedal action. Like, seriously way too much wah-wah for me to handle. The kind of band Bam Margera would have been repping in the early ’00s like TURBONEGRO, except this sounds more like some AEROSMITH B-sides with a grittier vocalist. The band is clearly very talented, it’s just something we’ve all heard a million times before.
Fun little comp with a neat theme. Each band submits two songs: one original, and one cover song from a band commonly found in jukeboxes from the ’70s and ’80s, with pop punk renditions of groups like GOLDEN EARRING, KISS, and my personal favorite, the J. GEILS BAND. The originals are decent enough; it’s just your typical, modern day pop punk teetering on the indie side of things. If I’m being honest, the meat of the record comes solely from the tributes. If you loved that Punk Goes… compilation series from the mid-to-late ’00s, then you’ll adore this. It’s a throwback to a throwback.
