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Gameface
Always On
I suspect that there's more than a few readers that would cower at the thought that these Orange Country poppa-punkers have spun loquaciously to introspective environs (i.e., they’ve slowed it down, they use bigger words). After a decade's worth of potent punk songs (including last year's "Every Last Time"), the climate was right to enforce a little emotion. Great, another emo come lately for the boo-hoo clan. Which, if you're prone to the cursory listen and superficial judgements, might describe a few of this disc's darker dynamics. But the pop explored on Always On is a much broader examination. Like the dreamy theme sequence that bridges "Awkward Age," erecting layers of power chording upward to a spiraling finale. Or the slow drum shuffle and moody bass pattern that surrounds “Balance” in a Joy Division-like dirge. Or the tricky, surreptitious melody of “Anyone Can Write a Song,” where themes constantly change, as if to prove that just anyone can’t. Never really a big fan of their older stuff, but this had me re-spinning all the quick-witted production twists and hooky chorus lines until quitting time. –ml kilgore (Revelation Records, P.O. Box 5232, Huntington Beach,CA 92615-5232)
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