Watermelon No Laughing / No Crying LP
Chicago three-piece WATERMELON traffics in RAMONES-brained, wall-of-guitar pop punk, and the bones are solid enough. The instruments hit the way they should on this release that was recorded and mixed by Erik Nervous (the SPITS), and I liked most of the songs until the singing kicked in. But the vocals sit deep in the reverb and low enough in the mix that whatever personality they could bring gets swallowed whole, and the songs end up blurring together. They’d probably be worth catching live if they’re opening for someone you’re already seeing, but No Laughing / No Crying is more shrug than fist-pump.