"Warning Device" by Teenage Bottlerocket

Sometimes described as Ramones-core, these boys do not disappoint. "Warning Device" is just good ol' pop-punk- four chords and a dream as it were. With lyrics that are all at once simple from "In the Basement," with such deep lyrics as "I'm not going down the stairs no more/There's something here living under the floor/I haven't seen it but I know it's there/Now I'm so scared I wet my underwear/That's why I don't wanna go down in the basement." But it works, mostly because the album is just fun. The songs are fast and punchy, and the vocals are impassioned and just off enough to make you think "Hell, I could play this music," which is exactly what you should feel.
I keep coming back to this idea of fun, and that's a great way to describe this album. You just want to have a few friends over, break out the grill and the beers, put this CD on and have a ball. At the same time, you want to listen to it and actually pay attention, because occasionally the lyrics get more deep than "She's not the one " (which is just about the only lyric in the song of the same name). Starting off with the mosh-friendly "Bottlerocket," the album does not slow down. Even the ballad songs have a sense of teenaged urgency about them, without being emo in the least.
With enough songs about girls to make the staunchest emo boy happy, our moros friends will be oddly disappointed with the lack of profound and over the top imagery, which is fine with me.
The album closes with three strong tracks, "Crawling Back to You" is not the groundbreaking poetic masterpiece, but is just sung perfectly. "Warning Device" has just the right amount of twang in the distorted guitar and swallowed vocal to make you sing "woah" along side your speaker. Closing with "Wasting Time" could not have been a smarter move. This song contains perhaps the best lyric on the album with "And now the murdering of minutes is my only crime" which is just so good it doesn't matter that this is yet another song about girls.
So break out the Chucks, those old jeans, and the ratty old t-shirts. Invite over some friends with a case of Keystone and put this album on, you will be happy. Just stay out of the basement.

Remember when...

Remember when you could listen to music and just enjoy it? What happened to those days? Now, whenever you like a band, it's either "too serious" or "too immature" or "too loud" or "too something." I still listen to the music that makes me happy- isn't that reason enough to listen to it?
Take for example this band Teenage Bottlerocket- straight up four chord pop-punk. No depth, no deeper meaning, just fun. It's the kind of music I could drink a beer to and then chill with the band after. And isn't that what enjoying music is all about- having a good time?
Side note: what ever happened to the Centurions? I think it is time for this crappy cartoon to make a comeback as a major motion picture, complete with over the top CGI- for no reason!!! I mean, it would be so awesome to have some halfway decent actors to fight someone like Robert DeNiro as Doc Terror. Who even cares about the plot, I just want Power Extreme dammit.