I love Fifteen, but I can’t imagine Jeff Ott fronting a band like New York’s Caleb Lionheart. It just ain’t right, but the singer does sound a bit like Jeff Ott (in tone only, not in lyrical content) and/or the dude from Unwritten Law here on the Think Hardcore, Play Pop Punk EP. [...]
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Tag Archive: pop punk
Title Fight – The Last Thing You Forget
So last year I raved (read the review here) about the debut 7″ from Kingston, Pennsylvania’s Title Fight and the poppy melodic hardcore that filled up the wax. I’m a Midwesterner and this just reeks of Eastern seaboard. Title Fight’s sound is gritty, fast, and makes me long for the days when I [...]
Backseat Virgins – Carl
Oh pop punk, why do I love thee so and why/how do I keep finding good and entertaining bands to listen to? I almost can’t take it anymore. My brain’s on overload. Backseat Virgins are just that sort of band. They’re a bubblegum pop punk band from Birmingham, Alabama complete with [...]
Arms Aloft – Comfort At Any Cost 7″
I happened across Arms Aloft and their four-song 2008 7” Comfort At Any Cost when I saw them open for Banner Pilot at Ronny’s in Chicago this past summer where I couldn’t really hear ‘em too well, but I can say with authority that this record is great. It’s the sort of music that [...]
Barrel Roll – It’s A Gold Mine Down There
I don’t know much about the band and despite telling me they’re from Greenville, IL (where the fuck is Greenville?), their Myspace page doesn’t say much. On their album, It’s A Gold Mine Down There, however, Barrel Roll plays a really weird combination of fast southern California pop punk, east coast hardcore, and crazy [...]
Heartsounds – Until We Surrender
My wife and I were listening to Strung Out’s Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues the other day and commenting just how great that record is, and while Heartsounds might not sound exactly like Strung Out, it’s easy to listen to their debut album, Until We Surrender, and hear the similarities. The record is full of [...]
Latin For Truth – Eleven Eleven
Latin For Truth and their album Eleven Eleven is really really good but flawed. It’s like a combination of Living With Lions, New Found Glory and some good but semi-ridiculous pseudo-heavy East coast-y hardcore parts. I guess it’s posi popcore. There’s some great riffage and some killer melodies, but on more than [...]
Four Year Strong – Explains It All
Does an entire covers album full of 90’s alternative radio hits sound like a good idea for a hardcore-influenced pop-punk band? I didn’t think so either, but that’s exactly what Four Year Strong’s latest release, Explains It All is. Bad move space cadet. Now before you judge me, know that this isn’t a [...]
Pop Punk Junk Vol. 10
Since this is all about pop punk, does anyone remember the Big Show 2 in Elgin? Zoinks! played that show as did Slapstick, The Bollweevils, Oblivion, No Empathy, Boris The Sprinkler, Jon Cougar Concentration Camp, 4 Squares, and more. I can’t even remember who I went to that show with, but it was [...]
Teenage Bottlerocket – They Came From The Shadows
If you like pop punk and you aren’t listening to Teenage Bottlerocket, my questions for you are then, “Why the hell not,” “Are you crazy,” and, “You’ve gotta be smoking crack, right?” In short, the new album from these Laramie, Wyoming punks, They Came From The Shadows, shows exactly why they are the best [...]
