Audiopleasures: Be your own pet

Tuesday 18 March 2008

Be your own pet - Get Awkward

It has been nearly two years since these Nashville punks broke onto the scene with that raucous debut album. The band went through a few lineup changes getting a new guitarist but the core is still here and so is the attitude. That was the charm of the bands first album it sounded like kids who didn't give a shit and who just went in there and recorded and had the time of their lives. There is not much of a change here but did we really expect that to happen. The band took the time to sharpen their sound. The record as a whole sounds cleaner. Lyrically, the songs still border on the silly to the almost insane as topics range from food fights to zombies.

First, we will start off with the ridiculous but fun “Food Fight” and “Zombie Graveyard Party.” "Food Fight" is a fast and scream heavy one minute about the food fight and all the items that lands in Jenna's(singer) hair. “Zombie Graveyard Party” is one of the catchiest songs on the album especially when the “zombie” songs in to backup Jenna on the vocals. “Becky” starts off sounding like the song “Locomotion” just listen to the intro. The song is striking narrative on the topic of a former friend and the threat of 'knives after class.” “The Kelly Affair” is one of those teenage anthems about drugs and sex. Then you get a track like “Blow Yr Mind” that is a loose and unstructured 45 seconds of screaming but you love it.

“Get Awkward” is a really fun record. The key is to keep expectations reasonable. This won't be a record you listen to 60 times this year but it is something that is worth to have in your collection to pop in ever so often and enjoy the fun songs. The band at times get a little off course with a song like “Blummer Time” but there is enough of that pop/punk swagger to make you happy for awhile. John Siwicki - comfortcomes