Side Walk Slam
Past Remains
Tooth & Nail
Another young (age 20-21) post-Green Day trio in the MXPX vein (and on MXPX’s former label, Tooth & Nail). This is their second full-length, first on T&N (and produced by Bill Stephenson and Stephen Egerton of ALL/Descendents, no less). Basic new school poppy punk rock. You won’t hear many guitar solos, but at least the lyrics aren’t as dumbed down as Blink-182 (another group they cite as an influence on their Web site).
While I prefer old school punk rock to new school pop-punk, this is better than a lot of what’s out there. Even has a tribute to Bob Dole, “Not Getting Off.” OK, it’s really about married life (one of the band members is married and the others “taken,” ladies). But it would be funnier if were about Bob Dole. Also ends with the now-gratuitous “sincere acoustic guitar” song. I suppose that’s OK, but at the same time, it seems tacked on. Worth checking out for you pop-punk fans, anyhow.
Tooth & Nail, PO Box 12698, Seattle, WA 98111; http://www.toothandnailcom, http://www.sidewalkslam.com
