From the crashing chords, Greg Attonito’s emphatic vocal style, and taut melodies of the title track you know exactly what The Bouncing Souls’ new record Ten Stories High (Pure Noise Records) is all about; raucous, to the point, Pop Punk. This is their twelfth album and it definitely does not outstay its welcome – these ten songs are all wrapped up in under twenty-six minutes.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Having stuck around since the late 1980s, Anti-Flag has become old enough to address the same young, impressionable people they once were when they formed so long ago. Ever ambitious and straight to the point, the Pittsburgh-based punk rock foursome is as approachable as at any other time in their storied career with Lies They Tell Our Children (Spinefarm Records). Rife with on-brand “fuck the system” anthems and guest appearances by like-minded rabble-rousers, the songs pack such an easily consumable punch.
The very nature of Simple Plan’s hotly anticipated sixth record, Harder Than It Looks (Self-Released) is actually doubly prophetic. The French-Canadian fourpiece have kept it rather simple indeed since they hit it big with ‘I’d Do Anything’ way back in 2002. Not known as a hugely poetic or introspective lyrical band, the pop punkers instead let the music do the talking in all its springy, bobby greatness. That’s not to say the means by which to achieve this is easy, hence the album title. Continue reading