The Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits

Okay. I love love love the new album, Chamberlain Waits, from Scranton, Pennsylvania’s The Menzingers. After spending the last few months with this album, I can tell you that, initially, I liked their EP from 2009, Hold On Dodge, better. But these songs just wouldn’t let go. Catchy melodies abound, but (this time around) it’s all a bit more obscured and a little further off the heavily beaten path. There’s something a little different going on with Chamberlain Waits. The band, formed about 5 years ago, combines a solid base of pop-punk with darker and deeper rock elements and the raw emotional bombast of your favorite folk troubadours. If you like your punk rock gritty and anthemic, you can’t go wrong with this. I was initially going to start this review off right with what I thought was a bold statement about the band, but after writing this I checked the punknews.org review and noticed they mentioned a similar thing.

If the Clash was a band that was alive and kicking in 2010, they wouldn’t necessarily sound exactly like The Menzingers, but the comparison between the two in undeniable. While the two bands differ (fairly greatly) at times in style, their music shares the same tone, intensity, and “feel” in a way that’s hard to put into words. There’s something both sad and uplifting about Chamberlain Waits and something that just makes it sound wise beyond it’s years. Here’s where writing about music becomes like “dancing about architecture” and gets all intangible, but I digress. It might be a little early to call this record an “instant classic,” but I don’t feel at all uncomfortable making such a prediction. If Hold On Dodge and Chamberlain Waits are any indication, The Menzingers have only just begun to hit their stride, and that’s scary. Is there any doubt that this is the punk album of the year? None here.

MP3:
The Menzingers - I Was Born