punk | timotheories

Never Change (Descendents, Hypercaffium Spazzinate review)

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

If I were ever to write a personal ad for music, it might look something like this.

Man seeking a band, must have a sense of humour, honesty, authenticity, and ferocity. Experience with bullshit, but zero tolerance for it preferred. Please apply within.

I hope there are some souls out there that can answer the call.

Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate
released July 29, 2016
********* 9/10

The Descendents are an American punk rock band which formed in 1977. It wasn’t until 1980, however, that they really became punks and a major player in the LA scene. This was when Stevenson brought on his school friend Milo Aukerman as the lead singer. The Descendents have released a total of seven studio albums now over their 24 year plus career, and the current lineup includes singer Milo Aukerman, guitarist Stephen Egerton, bassist Karl Alvarez, and drummer Bill Stevenson.

A lot of people will tell you that Milo Goes To College (from 1982) is their best, but I will whole-heartedly disagree. Their last album, Cool To Be You, was released in 2004 and holds up amazingly well, with all of the energy and unique perspective that the group always brings to the table.

This energy is what has influenced a plethora of pop punk and skate punk bands and especially some of my personal favourites – Blink 182, NOFX, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, The All-American Rejects, and The Offspring.

But let’s talk about Hypercaffium Spazzinate. It’s what you’re here for after all.

These gents play the kind of punk rock that transcends the typical limitations of the genre because while they do enjoy some of the simple chords and hooks, the content is always quite intelligent and relevant to where they are in the current lives. That and those chords evolve over each song, taking tracks into some more epic. For instance, Limiter is one of my favourite tracks and a song about Aukerman’s son, who is taking medication and which Aukerman believes is limiting his potential for success in life. It starts simply enough, but watch the melody progress along, it’ll take you by surprise.

They continue to mix a perfect blend of irritation about certain elements of life with a quality of sound that hasn’t been lost due to age. They even address this legacy with self-referential tracks like No Fat Burger and Beyond The Music. Asking you to reflect with them and also laugh at how their problems may have changed, but they still complain in the same ways.

Of course there are catchier tracks like On Paper, which is a great joke about those of us with well organized portfolios, resumes, and internet dating profiles, but without presence of purpose in person. And of course Testosterone is a modern replacement of the previous efforts to counterattack against the mainstream cool, this time focusing on those who will trample all for career bullion.

And when you listen to Smile, you can’t help but do so yourself. Because these guys are punk rock nerds, and are making exactly the kind of music that we need goofy, clever, and full of heart. This band continues to hit the same notes, but they never seem limited by their sound, it’s an ever-present blend of satire and whimsy.

The Descendents are the kind of musicians you could take home to your mom, but which you could also bring out to party with. They continue to make music at their own pace, and no matter what the call is, they answer it with silly and salty punk rock. Hopefully they keep that shameless halo on their list of special skills.

Tim!

Get Off My Lawn, Ya Punk! (Good Charlotte, Youth Authority review)

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

There is this fantastic track by NOFX called Mattersville. That they are in my top five punk bands of all time should have no bearing on this. Now you should know, when this song was first released in the early oughts, it made me nostalgic for my youth while I was still in my formative under grad years.

In the song NOFX sings about getting old and living in a gated community for punk rockers which are over the hill. Members of US Bombs and Die Hunns, Soda, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and AFI are referenced.

But that is one of the qualities of punk rock, it can be both subversive and a hype machine of it’s own culture. I wonder what 4th generation punk bands will be singing about when they start to reach that age?

Good Charlotte – Youth Authority
released July 15, 2016
******* 7/10

Good Charlotte is a five-piece American pop punk band that has been active for 19 years. They formed in 1995 but took a break between 2013-2015. Led by twins Joel and Benji Madden, who both supply vocals, Benji taking lead guitar, Paul Thomas on bass, Bill Martin on rhythm guitar and keyboards, and Dean Butterworth on drums (since 2005), the band has now released six studio length albums and two compilation albums.

I have always been a die-hard fan of their early work – their self-titled album, The Young and the Hopeless, and The Chronicles of Life and Death. I kind of intentionally missed the last two efforts because like many people, I was growing tired of what I was hearing from these guys in the late oughts.

Fortunately for me and everyone who likes pop punk, after taking a break, Youth Authority appears to be a return to form for Good Charlotte, who have never really been a cool kid band. Or to put it another way, they’ve finally committed to not be concerned about making music that can sit atop of a top 40 chart. Unlike say Marianas Trench.

But I think that’s a good thing.

Where they shine best is in being silly, sweet, and suburbia subversive. After all, the Madden brothers had a dad step out on them when they were young and their mother dealt with all kinds of health problems.

It’s a difficult thing for pop punk bands to overcome middle age and still sound like something a teenager could listen to, but like The Descendants, NOFX, Blink 182, Green Day, and The Offspring have all done before them, Good Charlotte is easing rather comfortably into that beer belly and easy chair motif. Now worthy of cult status and a loyal fan base.

I’m not the first reviewer to say this, but the challenging parts of the album often come in the slower lyrics, but because of the emotional pull these guys have, you can easily forgive it.

Some of my favourite tracks include Life Changes, 40. oz Dream, Reason to Stay, and War. But the real gem on this record comes in the form of The Outfield. It’s an autobiographical account of where they’ve been both before success and after their blockbuster album The Young and The Hopeless. It even features a lyric which quite literally mentions that fact.

And like NOFX and other punk bands like Bowling For Soup have done before, Good Charlotte is happy to reference the past in a constructive way.

Good Charlotte don’t need to prove themselves to us anymore, so maybe they really do have youth authority.

I don’t expect Good Charlotte to become a stereotype of aging cynicism any time soon, but dammit if it isn’t interesting to watch go through these life changes. Song lyric pun intended. If you like crappy punk rock, don’t listen to Youth Authority. But that’s just a theory.

Tim!

Better To Burn Out? (Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression, review)

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

I didn’t want to leave him behind, but I knew it was time. It was for the best.

Sometimes that’s what happens though. You lose a friend, you say goodbye in your head, and you walk away. But that doesn’t mean your feelings won’t betray you and leaving you hurting, sometimes aching like a bad knee in-between seasons.

That deep ache is how this week’s album comes out.

Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression
released March 18, 2016
******* 7/10

Iggy Newell Osterber, Jr., better known by his stage name, Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is the vocalist of the infamous and incredibly influential band The Stooges, and is a bit of a wildcard.

Post Pop Depression is Iggy’s 17th solo album. That’s right, he’s made 17 albums on his own, and it’s his 23rd studio album altogether, if you include 1977’s Kill City which he partnered with James Williamson on, and the 5 Stooges albums he’s been a part of.

Interestingly enough, Iggy has been doing his own thing longer than he’s been partying with the boys, which says a lot about his own rock n’ roll journey. Iggy Pop has been involved with lots of different acts, and not unlike a recently deceased pop idol, he has been part of pop culture for decades, participating in film, television and radio too.

I think that’s important to keep in mind while listening to this record.

The album title says it all, Iggy Pop knows that his time has been significant, but he isn’t a young buck anymore, and this album feels like a nod to years gone by. He’s looking backwards on his life and sharing with us some anecdotes and utter honesty about what he sees happening, but he’s not lamenting entirely, he’s still having fun and making an influence.

Apparently the real reason the album is called Post Pop Depression is because the album collaborators Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal), Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys), and Dean Fertita (multi-instrumentalist that’s played with literally everyone, think Dave Grohl), were sad for weeks after recording the tracks, and experience real depression.

But what is the album like you ask?

Gardenia is probably the standout track at the moment for me, with it’s jumpy lyrics and whisky tinted vocals. This is followed shortly by American Valhalla, a track that explores death and likely ties into David Bowie’s own death. And that’s the way the album goes the whole time, back and forth between sex and death. Not a terribly detailed account, but Iggy Pop manages to make it interesting for us anyway.

The closer, Paraguay is probably the most interesting though. Because it doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the album, but it’s message is very much an Iggy thought, one that demonstrates he isn’t exactly your classic and measured guy, he is an explorer and an innovator.

These tracks are raw especially so in Chocolate Drops, Vulture, and Break Into Your Heart. In short, if you are expecting heavy rock, you’ll be disappointed. But that doesn’t mean this doesn’t pop.

I’ve been there, I’ve lost my share of well-worn friends to circumstance and also to decisions, both of my volition and theirs. But that doesn’t mean that a friend for a season should never have been. Iggy Pop may miss his friend and his season may be fading away, but the memories and feels will remain. That’s one of the benefits of a legacy.

Check back tomorrow for a film review! Comments! Leave ’em! Subscribe! Please! No more theories today.

Tim!