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Never Mind The Suburbs Jerk Circus |
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In a blur of high-speed modulation, "Don't Follow Me" as an opening track is determined to elude whatever it is that's suggested to be approaching them in the first place… and to be honest, if I had someone ringing my ears with "Fucking Jerk," "Asshole," and "Dick," don't think I wouldn't be Hell bent on a hasty departure either! This Canadian Punk Rock/Power Pop hybrid smokes right from the starting gate-in fact I don't think I've heard the singer take a breath yet, but then again with these bludgeoning guitars bearing down on me, I'd be hard pressed to figure it out anyway. There's plenty to pick up in their overall sound and of course similarities to draw against with others of their ilk but they've got something of an unorthodox way of playing-the production's very secluded for one thing, not in a demo-quality sort of way but very stripped down-must be the Canadian border thing that brought that to mind-but truthfully a very bare boned production with not a lot of extracurricular enhancement to divert away from their basic in yer face slant. A timely break arrives in the form of "C# Ska," with its opening Ska sequence before cutting in with the deranged guitar buzz while then the alternating duo finds the right balance to carry the two minute tune the rest of its way… nicely done-check out its first cousin the all-instrumental "Opener" later on in the set. Topically, "Never Mind The Suburbs" doesn't revolve around any one particular matter as many Punk groups are wont to do but that's not to say there's not a singular slant moving toward the popular direction of these are the days of our lives and the relationship lasting past its exploration date-yes, there's an interpersonal angst burning to be released here in many cases-I'm hearing a little Bad Religion actually in this song "Truth" and surprising in that I didn't hear it before… In fact I might be lucky to ever hear anything again! They do an out an out blitzkrieg of the old Beatle's classic "All My Loving" which until the first verse breaks in actually sounded quite tuneful! They're more along the lines of a Blink (or Don't Blink cause you might miss em!) 182 or maybe The Descendants rather than the latter but you can pick out any of the modern day speed-influenced melody makers and there's bound to be little breathing space. Released by Re-Define Records Review by Vinnie Apicella
[va85@columbia.edu] |