The Menzingers - Rented World

The Menzingers – Rented World

Epitaph, 2014

Acquired: Half Price Books, Used, 2014

Price: $5

 

Has pop punk been secretly thriving all of these years, or are all the people who grew up on pop punk in the early 00s reviving the genre in their mid-to-late 20s? Either way, there’s something about this new wave of energetic records packed with hooks, sing-a-long harmonies, and big, booming power chords. Scranton, PA’s the Menzingers are as good as anyone when it comes to thoughtful whoa-Oh-oh pop punk. I’d never heard of this band until I saw they were touring with Lemuria (fellow purveyors of thoughtful, catchy music), and of course I stumbled across this album the next week and bought it sight unseen. Er, sound unheard? Either way, it’s something I never do, and something that sent a little thrill down my spine. Sure, it’s exciting to find new music on the internet, but actually taking a risk on a band has become wholly unnecessary in our society and while that’s mostly for the best, there’s something special about taking home a cool looking record, putting it on the turntable, and unlocking the mystery.

When the Menzingers are at their best they remind me of the first Killers album. I hope that doesn’t come across as an insult, because that record has some of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard. Earworms that reside in my brain til this day. And tracks like “Where Your Heartache Exists” massage that part of my brain that lives on grandiose pop music. The Menzingers are smarter than the Killers, and they have more heart. My favorite surprise from Rented World is the excellent songwriting. The music is so good, the lyric sheet doesn’t need to be anything special, but it is anyway. The songs are wordy, but Tom May and Greg Barnett are more than capable of wrapping them around these potentially overpowering tracks.

I’m a grown ass man, but I’m enjoying this album the same way I would have when I was sixteen. The big change though is I am now better equipped to appreciate the ebb and flow. The tracks needn’t all be high-octane bangers to get my seal of approval, and the slower tracks peppered in to give the album texture (the lovely “Transient Love” and the heartwrenching acoustic closer “When You Died” help to make Rented World more than just another punk rock recordthe invasion) are some of my favorites. Better still, when the tracks switch tempo midstream, as on “In Remission,” which I can’t stop listening to. Equal parts anthemic and sensitive, the Menzingers do a great job of subverting expectations and manage to put their own stamp on a well-worn genre.

"In Remission"

"I Don't Wanna Be an Asshole Anymore"

Gut Feeling: The Lawrence Arms - "Metropole"

The Lawrence Arms – Metropole

Epitaph, 2014 

I was already a fan of the Lawrence Arms when their fourth album—2003’s The Greatest Story Ever Told—was released, but the liner notes on that album made me a true believer. The lyrics were annotated with a hundred corresponding footnotes that illustrated the beautiful marriage of intelligence and lowbrow humor that has always made this band so compelling. Fart jokes next to thoughtful analysis of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, etc. It was wonderful.

Eleven years later the Lawrence Arms are still just as lewd and still just as smart. The tug of war between Chris McCaughan’s sensitive croon and Brendan Kelly’s gravely bark is maybe the best it has ever been and though the band’s last release was a juvenilely titled Buttsweat & Tears (brilliant), Metropole tackles growing old with grace, big city livin', mortality, drinkin’, and beautiful things. There’s also a track called “Paradise Shitty” which sounds haha but is actually the most moving track on the record. “I’m so alive/ I’m so afraid/ That I’m wasting what’s left of these days,” Brendan Kelly sings, injecting his cigarette addled whisky soaked vocal chords with more sensitivity than ever.

The Lawrence Arms continue to stay true to their Midwestern roots, which makes Metropole sound both humble and huge at once. There’s a landlocked charm that haunts these songs. There’s also a song called “Drunken Tweets” where Brendan Kelly extols the virtues of the phrase “FUCK YOU” (which provides stark contrast to  the aforementioned sensitive jam “Paradise Shitty”). The Larry Arms haven’t made any great strides in their overall sound over the year, but album after album they seem to mature a little bit more. Get better with age. Metropole is their tightest album to date and manages to sound accomplished without sacrificing the childlike joy (and straight up childishness) that makes the group such a joy to imbibe.

"Beautiful Things"

"Paradise Shitty"

The Hot Melts - "Shrink" 7"

The Hot Melts – “Shrink” 7”

Epitaph, 2009

Acquired: SXSW, New, 2009

Price: $0

 

You end up with a lot of free shit when you go to SXSW day parties. Usually grab bags full of stickers, compilations in cardboard sleeves you will never listen to, SWEET CADET HATS!, and the occasional 7” shrewdly cobbled together by a band that thinks they have a better shot at getting your attention if they give you a piece of vinyl. For the Hot Melts, it worked. Five years later, I’m finally listening to this 7”. It sounds dated, or maybe ageless I suppose. Though it was released on the ‘Taph, the Hot Melts play a brand of Weezer-esque power-pop that is both ubiquitous and better than anything Weezer has done since Pinkerton (Note: Epitaph will release just about anything these days, apparently*). “Shrink” has a throwback pop vibe. Like thrown way back to the 1950s. Like malt shop throwback. It’s absolutely nothing special, but it is absolutely pleasant. B-side “The Alcohole” time travels forward to the 1970s and delivers a Bowiesque song about getting drunk and incapable of falling in love and possessing “lecherous ways.” There’s a little farfisa running through the verses, and for some reason, farfisa means fun in my book. It’s fun. The group is from England, which now makes so much sense as the English tend to be much more forgiving of run-of-the-mill rock and roll music (see the skyrocketing success of Arctic Monkeys). Or at least it seems that way, considering every five seconds NME or whoever is heralding some young new band as the saviors of rock and roll music. Or maybe that’s just a caricature of English music consumers that for some reason resides in my brain.

"Shrink"

*I couldn't remember the band or the douchebag singer, so in order to find that Falling in Reverse video I just googled "Epitaph Records Douche." First hit: That Vice article that took the piss out of Ronnie Radke.