Strung Out

Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues (Fat)
by Scott Hefflon

Hyperspeed melodic punk engineered by Ryan Green (the man responsible for beefing the shit out of drums ’til they sound like Punk In Drublic) and mixed by Max Norman who’s produced, like, Ozzy and stuff. The word “hardcore” is used as Strung Out‘s upbringing, but this sounds as much like Earth Crisis as Black Sabbath sounds like Led Zeppelin. The pace is so quick, it’s tough to read the damn lyric sheet as you listen to the songs. Just hum and nod yer head really fast, no one’ll notice. They don’t seem to repeat choruses and bridges and stuff; lead singer Jason just opens his mouth and starts a rant that barely breaks between verses. Frantic instrumental transitions between verses show off the soon-obvious talents of speedster bassist Jim, guitarists Jake and Rob, and drummer Jordan (as praised in the NOFX comparison), who would’ve given Dave Lombardo a run for his money had he chosen the metal thing rather than the punk thing. Vocal harmonies stacked to the ceiling are (thank god) not as en vogue as they were in 1984 when Another Day In Paradise was recorded. Jason has a strong, leader voice without layers of harmonies or group shouts as backup, though it occasionally does blend into one big smear of voice playing melody. La-la-la, la, la-la-la-la. While the artwork is painfully similar to the clip art pulp Taang! used to mass-produce, the sound and musicianship on Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues is superb. Lacking only the extensive diversity of radio-friendly punk pop and the over-the-top image to get plastered on every magazine cover in the country, Strung Out have the goods to be superstars. Until then, they’re a top-notch pure speed punk band.