Crucial Dudes- 61 Penn

1. Mt. Chill, You're Climbing

2. Doubt

3. 61 Penn

4. Through Being Crucial

5. Mad Nice

6. Give 'Em the Howard

7. Contour

8. Boom, Roasted

9. Small, Bent, and Ugly

10. On Leaving

Well, since The Story So Far seems to be this year's The Wonder Years in terms of hype (not to say that TWY aren't still pop punk's wonder kid right now), I figured I'd cover a band that sounds a lot like TSSF, and in many instances, outdoes them.

Crudes (Get it?) are from New Jersey, I think. They released a bunch of other good EP/demo songs before this, including a pretty decent "Never Gonna Give You Up" cover. Anyways, while they still fit nicely into the whole 2010-11 pop punk boom sound (anything from Four Year Strong and The Wonder Years to Handguns and Washington Square Park), they're on the punk-ier side. They haven't quite gotten their break yet with sweet tours, but I think they're getting a name locally, and they for sure toured Canada with The Snips a while back. So that's good for them.

Anyways, I wouldn't say that there's any one particular element that sticks out for 61 Penn. But that might be what makes this a pretty good release. There's no random breakdowns, there are no obnoxious gang chants, few intricate melodies, or big leads. It's some guy screaming his guts out over powerchords, while the rhythm section does exactly what it has to to support the song, without being showy. And in a sea of overproduced bands, "easycore" or chuga chuga pop punk bands, or "hey look, we have hammer ons so we're clearly influenced by emo" pop punk bands, something so simple and raw is actually pretty sweet. A lot of stuff sounds similar, but for me, the lyrics matched with the vocal delivery make this awesome. This is ideal basement, pile on till you die, scream at the band kind of pop punk, and it's awesome.

And now, this is a whole paragraph dedicated to my favourite song on the record, and one of my top 10 songs of 2011. Boom, Roasted is fucking sick, and you should feel terrible for not loving it. "NECK DEEP IN WHAT YOU COULDN'T BE" is definitely the outstanding line on the record, and the entire bridge section of this song is my favourite part of this album. I recomend finding live versions of this song, because usually, the singer will sing the rest of the song more mellow, and in a less "screaming to save my life" kinda way. And then the bridge kicks in, and it's go time.

This record is on bandcamp in a pay-as-you-wish kinda way. I paid $4, so be nice and support.

LURKBOOK

BLANDCAMP

(That's Jumpstart Records' bandcamp, so I would definitely recommend checking out the other bands on this label, because there are a few hidden gems!)

M. Stephen Young.

edit: bandcamp says $5 but this one doesn't mediafire