Teenage Bottlerocket - They Came From the Shadows

Teenage Bottlerocket, hailing from Laramie, Wyoming, are the current standard-bearers for Ramones-core pop-punk. There’s pretty much no band out there who does it quite as well as these four guys. And now they’ve been signed to punk juggernaut, Fat Wreck Chords.

Happily, the jump from Red Scare to Fat hasn’t really impacted the band’s sound at all, at least not negatively. They sound tight as ever here, cranking out 2-3 minute pop-punk anthems left and right. “Skate or Die” delves a bit into skatepunk territory, as would befit such a song, and showcases perhaps a bit more bravado in the lyrics than the band’s previously been known for. This comes to a head in “Bigger Than KISS,” where the band boasts- tongue, one assumes, firmly planted in cheek- that they’re “gonna go down in history as world’s greatest rock ‘n roll band.” Great song, perhaps unless you’re a diehard KISS fan. Who can’t chuckle at the closing line “Ray beat the piss/outta Peter Criss/Now we’re bigger than KISS?”

The songs, as usual, feature Kody and Brandon trading off on vocals, usually every other track. It helps keep things lively and from getting boring, since they both have extremely distinctive voices, and tend to be pretty distinct lyrically as well. But the songs here are typically similar, in that they’re all uptempo rockers. This is definitely a band you can count on to not slow down the proceedings with a ballad or a slow jam. They kick off the album with the aforementioned “Skate or Die,” blaze through 12 raucous punk songs, and close it out with the tuneful “Todayo.” As a result, it keeps its energy throughout, and makes for a satisfying listen.

If you’re a fan of Teenage Bottlerocket, you’ll enjoy this album. General pop-punk fans who have somehow missed out on the band up until now should find a lot to like here; the songs are uniformly strong, and the band plays them will skill and energy, and a definite love of the music. I don’t know that this record will convince haters to worship at the alter of the Ramones like these guys apparently do, but I don’t know that someone who isn’t compelled to pump fists and pogo to “Fatso Goes Nutzoid” deserves music this fun.

Teenage Bottlerocket - Warning Device

So apparently, there’s a punk scene in Wyoming. This probably comes as a surprise to many, as there’s not a lot that- as I understand it- goes on in Wyoming. Half the time I question the state’s very existence, because really, have you ever met anyone from Wyoming? The odds are no, you haven’t.

But it exists, there are people there, and some of them even play punk rock.

Teenage Bottlerocket formed from the remnants of Homeless Wonders, featuring twin brothers Ray and Brandon, along with (after their first, vinyl-only album Another Way) Kody, formerly of the Lillingtons. Miguel is the last member of the band, and as far as I can tell, he has no previous credits to his name. The Wikipedia article scarcely mentions him.

Warning Device picks up where previous album, Total, left off; the band’s dual vocals (provided by Ray and Kody) are intact. The songs themselves are very reminiscent of the Ramones- they’re short bursts of pop tunes played very hard. So it’s straight up pop-punk. The tempos go from racing (“Bottlerocket,” “Social Life”) to more mid-paced (“Pacemaker”). If you’ve listened to Teenage Bottlerocket before, you’ve witnessed their song style, and how while some of the songs present a narrative, others are content to rock out and repeat a line or two for the duration of the song. See “She’s Not the One” or opening song “Bottlerocket.”

The songs here are really fun, and one can see how this band would be a great live act. There’s not a whole lot of depth to the music, but not everything needs to be revelatory; sometimes we just want to have fun at a show, and the guys in TBR are completely down with that. There are a couple of clunkers here (“Pacemaker” stand out in my mind) but overall the material is strong. Definitely on-par with the excellent Total, and a good indication that Teenage Bottlerocket will be able to sustain its quality. One of the most fun releases of 2008.