Quickies 1 - Gatorface, Shook Ones, The Takers, Fastball, Crisis in Hollywood, Anarbor

Some albums beg for 1,000-word reviews. Others can be summed up fairly in a single paragraph. The latter aren't necessarily worse; it's just that everything album doesn't require an essay. For those reviews that just come out on the short end, I've created this "Quickies" series - brief reviews on a series of albums, good and bad, sharing a post. All reviews by Bill Jones.

Free Your Mind
Anarbor

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars
Released: March 10, 2009
Label: Hopeless

Free Your Mind, the latest EP from the Phoenix foursome Anarbor, starts with a cool dance-rock vibe, featuring a heavy bass groove and straightforward guitars. It gives listeners the feeling that they might be in for something fun and exciting. Instead, vocalist Slade Echeverria enters the mix with a Fallout Boy sense of phrasing, a Hot Topic sensibility toward lyrics and too much self-indulgence in high-pitched tangents giving way to choruses that can’t be told apart from thousands of other songs just like them. Anarbor is catchy, sure, but the super-polished production makes it feels like a manufactured set of hooks without heart, ultimately making for some decent mindless entertainment, but nothing for the discerning music fan.

Safe and Sound
Crisis in Hollywood

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Released: May 12, 2009
Label: Financial Records

From the very first second of Safe and Sound’s opening title track, Crisis in Hollywood will remind listeners of the glory days of New Found Glory and company. In 12 tracks, the Orlando four-piece cements itself as a quality pop-punk act in the vain of the best, rather than the new breed of bastardized time structures and sloppy performances. Safe and Sound is super-smooth in its production, and while the band’s songwriting formula doesn’t break the mold of the oldies but goodies in the scene, Crisis in Hollywood has a knack for writing catchy hooks and four-part harmonies that are guaranteed to attract the ladies in the crowd without dropping the guys to “boy band” status. These guys know how to turn teen relationship angst into decent pop-punk tunes, with enough variety within the album to keep it interesting throughout.

Sick and Stupid (Digital)
Gatorface

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Released: Nov. 25, 2008
Label: Paper + Plastick

The third project to rise from the ashes of New Mexican Disaster Squad is Gatorface, bringing over the pop-punk sensibilities meets hardcore vibe, falling more in line with NMDS than the other post-disbanding spin-off Virgins. All six of the tracks comprising the band’s debut, Sick and Stupid, are designed lyrically and vocally to virtually rip off the listeners' face, while the music still lends itself to a good dance in the pit. “Flak Jacket” hits the war protest strong with lyrics attacking those who still support the war, while “Frogging” touches on a feeling of defenselessness. And while the disgust in lyrics keep things thematically on the same level, the down-home guitar work of songs on the first half like “Crash/Grab” keeps the mood in a slightly better place. As with most EPs, the first impression of Gatorface is brief, but if it’s a sign of things to come, bearded, PBR-drinking, No Idea-loving punks should take notice.

Little White Lies
Fastball

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Released: April 14, 2009
Label: DIY

Fastball never really disappeared, but with four-year album intervals the band has faded from the mainstream attention earned on 1998’s All The Pain Money Can Buy. More than a decade after “The Way” hit MTV, the band’s sound is still hard to peg to any particular genre. It’s a bit indie with its airy vocals, a touch of reserved Beatles-esque rock, slightly experimental, a tinge of folk, but power-pop-oriented lyrics about love, such as the opener of Little White Lies, “All I Was Looking For Was You.” The repetitive and shallow lyrics make it hard for the music to resonate, but the band still has a knack for writing strangely understated catchy tunes in interesting keys. While there is nothing that really stands out on Little White Lies, music fans could do worse for a summer cruising album.

The Unquotable A.M.H.
Shook Ones

Rating: 4 out of 5
Released: June 15, 2009
Label: Paper + Plastick

The third full-length to be released by Shook Ones, The Unquotable A.M.H., finds the band in a familiar place, belting out gravely punk tunes with absolutely everything they have put into them. Scott Freeman puts every inch of his throat into each word, while the band seems intent on tearing up a stage wherever they go, while still finding time to sneak in a strolling pace or two in the tunes. The Unquotable A.M.H. is a melodic hardcore album that works both ends, at times brutal and other times catchy as all hell, though its hooks are never obvious. It’s the kind of album that first kicks the listener’s ass, then starts to grow on him as the quality songwriting works its way though to the top. For anyone not quite sold on Shook Ones up until now, this might be the album that does it.

Taker Easy
The Takers

Rating: 5 out of 5
Released: July 21, 2009
Label: Suburban Home

The Takers are a little bit country, and a little punk rock n’ roll. With folk influences pervading the Gainesville scene for years, it was only a matter of time that a label like Suburban Home release a record this incredibly country. One look at the cover art for Taker Easy and fans will know exactly what they’re getting. The Takers are outlaw country at its modern best, writing great stories into their songs in the vein of the great Johnny Cash, and both musically and vocally they’ve got the proverbial chops to pull it off. “Social Smoker” is the standout track of the album, a bittersweet reflection of better times when the character could still “steal the show.” But if The Takers can keep writing tunes this good, and performing and producing them this well, those times are just getting started for the Gainesville sextet. And for listeners, this is the perfect album to pop in the stereo during the summer, ideally out on the porch with cheap beer and a dog.