Scrimmage Heroes
Nothing Comes Clean
Off Ramp
Scrimmage Heroes are a slightly above average punk band that hails from Southern California. I could pretty much stop there and you would get the gist of where these guys are coming from. The band has been compared to Dag Nasty, Foo Fighters, and Seaweed. Nothing Comes Clean is a record of well-produced punk pop that isn’t terribly original in sound or execution, and that’s the problem.
The band does come roaring out of the gate with “Happy Accidents” and produces some decent harmonies on “Tired of Making Friends.” “My Fault” is catchy and riff-happy. “Arkansas” sports the record’s best melody and a dueling big guitar sound. They finally stop to take a breath on the weird ballad “Red Tape Phaser.” There’s even a cover of Mission of Burma’s “Academy Fight Song.”
But it’s clear early on that these guys don’t have much of anything interesting to say. On “Melodrama,” singer Noel Paris comes up with these profound sentiments: “Velvet paintings of my fears/ Gentle laughs and phony tears/ I can’t believe how many beers I spilled for you.” Combine that with their run of the mill, dime-a-dozen sound and Scrimmage Heroes seem a little lacking in raison d’être. Even worse, they seem disgruntled that they aren’t huge stars yet. As Paris sings in “Ripped Off”: “I’ve waited endlessly/For the world to suck up to me/ I’ve paid the price, I just can’t pay my bills/ Anticipation’s giving me the chills/Am I just wasting all my time.” Hey buddy you said it, not me.
