Review: Broadway Calls - Broadway Calls

Posted on 5 September 2007 | 2 Comments

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Punk

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One of the recurring themes on this blog seems to revolve around my love of great pop punk and reconciling that with my inner critic. And as I get older I’m getting harder and harder to impress, especially when it comes to pop-punk. There is so much poorly played and watered down music in this genre that it is becoming an increasingly daunting task to find anything of value. So much indie rock suffers from the same problems, but the perceived notion that it is somehow more “mature” causes many critics to unfortunately write off anything and everything that might fall under the banner of pop-punk in favor of bland and uninspired indie rock. They might never know what they’re missing.

Oregon’s Broadway Calls has a new self-titled album that might just turn even the most jaded critic into a pop punk believer. The first half of the album is nearly flawless and starts off so strong that it would be almost impossible for any band to keep that up over fourteen songs. But with only a few miscues in the album’s second half (the two acoustic songs come to mind) Broadway Calls managed to take their perfect game into the seventh only to give up a pair of singles before ultimately ending up with a two hit shutout. Broadway Calls is a valiant effort at pop-punk perfection.

Broadway Calls is full of snotty and stomping pop punk that flirts with political overtones but is bathed in upbeat West coast cool and hopeful highway skies. Broadway Calls is catchy-as-hell without being overly saccharine with melodic guitar leads, harmonized vocals in all the right places, and that little rough edge that just makes it. And as a former member of Allister and someone who grew up listening to a lot of Screeching Weasel, Green Day, Zoinks!, and the rough-but-catchy sounds of mid-90’s Chicago punk bands, you know where my heart lies. It is impossibly hard for me not to love these guys.

You’ll probably have to be restrained to resist singing along and pumping your fist in the air when listening to Broadway Calls, but why would you want to resist? It is easily one of the best punk albums of 2007 and not to be missed. RIYL: The Loved Ones, Smoke or Fire, Anti-Flag, etc…

MP3 | Broadway Calls – Suffer The Kids S/T
MP3 | Broadway Calls – Back To Oregon S/T