Sinkhole - Core Sample (1996)

1. Smell Isn't Everything

2. Dogstein

3. Donut

4. Mush Mouth

5. Far And Away

6. Sunbird

7. Strings

8. Fountains

9. Cherry

10. Don't Fail Me Now

11. Go Ahead, Eat My Pretzels

12. Big Time

13. Madonna, She's A dick

The '90s were certainly an incredible decade for pop punk. Among all of the output from the decade, Sinkhole comes out scuffed and tired in the rubble - forgotten amid more "essential" punk groups. But when it comes to aping Descendents, Sinkhole can ape with the best of 'em. Core Sample was their swan song and magnum opus, a downright delectable upper-mid-tempo geeky punk record. Very few albums in the genre are paced as well as this one, although it only really slows down considerably for two songs ("Sunbird" and "Big Time").

The only skippable song on the album is "Sunbird", if only for the dragging tempo. Every other song is remarkable, especially the first few. Core Sample is one of my favorite tr00 pop punk albums ever, check it out.

Recommended Track: "Donut"

For Fans Of: Descendents, Hüsker Dü, with kind of an early Weezer-y feel.

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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

Bracket - 4 Wheel Vibe (1995)

Tracklist

1.circus act

2.cool aide

3.happy to be sad

4.john wilkes' isolation booth

5.tractor

6.green apples

7.closed captioned

8.trailer park

9.fresh air

10.p.c.

11.g-vibe

12.warren's song pt. 4

13.2 hot dogs for 99c

14.metal

15.pessimist

16.lazy

Bracket is a weird band to try and categorize; they're not quite pop-punk, they're not quite 90's alt rock, but they're definitely quite spectacular. They're one of those bands that you can easily pick out the era that they were a part of, but they don't seem necessarily dated. I don't come across much music with that characteristic, and since I'm a sucker for the 90s underground this band is relevant to my interests. While best known for having the song "2RAK005" featured in Tony Hawk's Underground, Bracket has an impressive back catalog, and 4 Wheel Vibe is a perfect example of this.

4 Wheel Vibe has nearly two full LPs worth of material on it with minimal filler; a particularly strong and ballsy sophomore effort for a band of their nature and sound. All of the songs on this album feature quirky chord progressions and unexpected melodic (anti-melodic?) twists, just when you least suspect them, which makes it one of the most interesting and rewarding albums I've ever heard that relies heavily on pop sensibility.

The album has a very varied (yet cohesive) feel to it: songs like "Green Apples" and "2 Hotdogs for 99c" are more straight up punk (with the latter even incorporating influences from 80s hardcore) while "Happy to Be Sad" and "Lazy" are contenders for some of my favourite alt-rock tracks from the decade. "John Wilkes' Isolation Booth" and "Trailer Park" are pop-punk counterbalances to most of the album and contain little surprises melodically but still work beautifully within the context of the album (or even on their own).

And as I prepare to hit send without proofreading this, I'd like to sign off for now with something about how I hate saying the 90s were my favourite decade for music because that usually lumps me in with all the silly folks who fellate Rob Thomas and the like (seriously, fuck Matchbox 20) and say that music today is way worse than it was a decade ago (these people are dumb - don't listen to them; listen to me, I have a blog - that means I'm important).

People are stupid. All people think all other people are stupid. Stupid people invariably think I'm stupid.

Just sayin', if you like Incubus, yer suspect.

Recommended Tracks: Trailer Park, Tractor, Green Apples (but the whole album is superb)

FFO; Jawbreaker, Knapsack, Local H, Weezer, hell, even the first Goo Goo Dolls album

Link to the Past

Spraynard - Funtitled (2011)

1. I Care Not

2. The Denver Broncos Vs. The Denver Broncos

3. O.R. They?

4. Little Green Ghouls

5. We're Pretty Nice People

6. Ah Gun

7. Damn You, A Box

8. Spooky, Scary

9. Homies Where The Heart Is

10. Quite Exciting, This Computer Magic

11. Not Good Enough, Gary

12. Joe Gallagher's Fantasy Fun Camp

Despite the inconceivably large amount of post-Latterman bands that sound like you would expect them to, there are still people who think the world needs more Latterman. People like Spraynard. Propitiously enough, they do it right. They sound like a dilettante imitation of Latterman whilst sounding like they actually know what they're doing at the same time. Some of the melodies sound like they were ripped straight from ...We Are Still Alive, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The thing that sets Spraynard apart from the pack is the categorically emo influenced music behind the gruff vocals. Latterman+emo. But the record itself is fantastic. Anyone with an interest in emo or punk would be doing themselves a great disservice by not checking this out.

Recommended Track: O.R. They?

For Fans Of: Latterman and emo

Download

Bandcamp

Boys No Good- Never Felt Better (2011)

01. Cutting All Ties
02. Bold City Tigers
03. Buried At Sea
04. So Far Gone
05. Jeremy Drinks Bleach
06. Crash And Burn
07. Cut Your Heart Out
08. Serenity Now
09. High And Mighty
10. Thanks For Nothing
11. End Of A Good Thing
12. Rosemary's Children

Boys No Good is a pop punk band from Jacksonville, Florida featuring members of Casey Jones and Kids Like Us. Although this album is not as hardcore influenced as their demo, there is still an apparent hardcore element to it. If you have not heard their demo, don't worry, they re-recorded the songs on it and released them on this album. BlahBlahBlah if you like catchy pop punk with hardcore influence you will like this album.

Stand out tracks: So Far Gone, Jeremy Drinks Bleach, Cut Your Heart Out, End of a Good Thing.
FFO: Set Your Goals, Four Year Strong, Living With Lions.

-T-mayne

The Story So Far- Under Soil and Dirt (2011)

Tracklist:

1. States and Minds

2. Roam

3. Quicksand

4. Swords and Pens

5. High Regard

6. Daughters

7. Mt. Diablo

8. Four Years

9. Rally Cap

10. Placeholder

11. Closure

The Story So Far is a pop punk band who hails from Walnut Creek, California. While they may be riding off the pop punk revival hype that's been happening for the past two years, these dudes know how to write some catchy riffs. The vocals are sometimes reminiscent of TAYF-era Taking Back Sunday, and the emotions in them bleed through the speakers. Even the drummer gets props for coming up with drum parts that will get caught in your head for months (see: Mt Diablo). They excel not only as a full band, but also acoustically, as evident in Placeholder, and solidify their solidarity as a band. While they may be getting tons of recognition right now, this full length has confirmed that it's well deserved.

FFO: The Wonder Years, New Found Glory, Fireworks 

Link, bitchez

-Okeefe

Saturday Night Karaoke - Duh! (2011)

1. First Tune, 5 Chords, 4 Instruments, 3 Guys

2. Theme for Jocks Holocaust

3. Fresh Man Year Sucks

4. Kumar Vs. Abraham

5. Took 18 Minutes to Write This One

6. ALL!

7. No ALL!

Saturday Night Karaoke plays a lovable, catchy, cutesy brand of pop punk all the way from Ban-fucking-Dung, Indonesia. Duh! is their CDR that came out early this year -- it rules. They certainly channel old favorites such as MTX and The Ergs. I'm not drawing the comparison to the latter because of the fact that singer/songwriter Prabu Pramayougha also happens to play drums from time to time for the band, nor the fact that his nasally, bubbly voice is mysteriously reminiscent to that of Mikey Erg, but because of the short and sweet love songs on this release.

Tracks one, three, and five are the only notable songs on the disc; 'Kumar Vs. Abraham' and 'Theme for Jocks Holocaust' are short, thrashy numbers that do little more than help transition between songs. The added Descendents covers at the end of the disc are a nice touch, though. They've also got a promo with a couple more songs on it and a four-song Ergs tribute EP. However, word on the street is that they are recording five brand spankin' new songs as we speak.

Recommended track: Fresh Man Year Sucks

FFO: The Ergs, Descendents, Early-era Green Day

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Zach.

Bangers - Small Pleasures (2011)

1. Making Friends

2. Wild Times, Outrageous Lies

3. Church Street in Ruins

4. Every Night's a Date Night

5. The Love Nest

6. Integral Faults

7. Irritants

8. Geeks and Paedophiles

9. Wizard Wise

10. A New Raymondo

Bangers is a band from Cornwall, England. They play a style I like to call "grown man pop punk", also known as orgcore. Bands like Bangers conjure up images of plaid shirts, Blue Moon lager, jaded aging punks, and "everything sucks now because my life was fun 10 years ago" lyrical themes. Bangers add a level of maturity you don't come to expect from pop punk while still maintaining the happy, upbeat feeling of the genre. When I listened to this album I felt something I don't usually feel from new music; nostalgia. The tracks on Small Pleasures cover topics that everyone has experienced at some point in their lives. It's not often I find an album that I can relate to as much as Small Pleasures. I was completely sucked into the music and atmosphere of this album, which is why Small Pleasures could easily be placed among the top pop punk releases of 2011.

Bandcamp

-Alex M.

EDIT: They're also very good live and anyone who ever gets the chance should go see them. - Danny M.

Living With Lions - Holy Shit (2011)

1.Maple Drive is Still Alive

2. Matthew's Anthem

3. Rough Around The Edges

4. Wake Up

5. Whatever You Want

6. When We Were Young

7. Honesty, Honestly

8. In Your Light

9. Regret Song

10. Pieces

Living With Lions is beardy pop punk from Van city, Canada. Holy Shit is the band's third full length, and first with new vocalist Stu Ross, formerly the mastermind behind Misery Signals. Did I mention you can really hear the beardy-ness of the band? It's like every member of this band got dumped by slutty girls, went home, smoked 17 packs of handrolled smokes, drank Gin from the bottle, and wrote one of my favourite albums of the year. Like seriously, fuck conventional genres, this band is pop orgcore. Honesty, Honestly is the standout track on this one, complete with gang chants, emotional lyrics, catchy melody and a really neat video. Whatever You Want and Matthew's Anthem are really sweet too. So is the rest of the album. Oh yeah, this is the band who got in (Holy) shit after people realized their 'anti-religious' album was funded by the Canadian Government ( get it, Holy Shit? Jesus is also picture as fecal matter on the album's insert if the point wasn't clear enough.). And their van nearly got destroyed during the Vancouver riots. Support these fellas. 

FFO: Daggermouth, The Wonder Years, None More Black

Sounds like: Manly men playing emotional pop punk

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stephen y.