Slick Shoes
Far From Nowhere
Side One Dummy
Man, these guys are absolutely incredible. I thought that the last record they put out would be their apex and that would be it. But oh, was I wrong. From the second I put this disc on, I was rocked right out of my seat – needless to say I listened to the majority of this disc on the floor.
The opening track, “Darko,” is one of the single coolest pop-punk songs I’ve ever heard. It’s super fast, very melodic and very singable. It is so full of energy, passion and power that it makes it very easy to see that the boys in Slick Shoes completely love playing in a band. The song opens with a little drumroll deal with lightly strummed guitars, only to give way to a rather cliché pick slide, but what follows is a run through the best elements of several subgenres of punk rock. The singer gets totally emotional in his vocal delivery. The guitars harmonize in that way that NOFX popularized, but they trump NOFX. There’s a sincerity to them that’s always lacking on NOFX albums. The drums are total NOFX, but, again, Slick Shoes has taken what is a good idea and developed into a truly destructive and gorgeous thing. “Darko” is simply one of the coolest songs I’ve ever heard … in my entire life.
The rest of the album showcases a band at the top of their game, both performance and songwriting wise, and this is definitely an album that fans of Slick Shoes will enjoy to no end. I honestly believe that this is the best Slick Shoes album so far. I just don’t understand why bands like Sum 41 or New Found Glory are famous rock stars when true quality pop-punk like this Slick Shoes goes pretty much ignored by the mainstream buying public; it’s totally unfair, but whatever. This is one of my favorite records of 2003, easily. They haven’t reinvented the wheel with Far From Nowhere, but, with said album, they have put some fancy gold hubcaps with lots of sparkly parts on it.
Side One Dummy: http://www.sideonedummy.com/
