Samiam

You Are Freaking Me Out (Ignition)
by Scott Hefflon

After almost a decade of helping define “pop-punk,” Samiam release You Are Freaking Me Out, a beautifully-crafted peppy pop album with more hooks than your Grandfather’s tackle box. Beginning in ’90, Samiam released three albums on New Red Archives,Samiam,Soar (produced by Epitaph’s Brett Guerowitz), and Billy (produced by Goo Goo Dolls’ Armand John Petri), then, in ’95, they released Clumsy (produced by Lou Giordano) on Atlantic.

After touring with (and becoming practically synonymous with) Green Day, Bad Religion, and the Toadies, Samiam achieved the respectable level of major-label-but-still-really-good pop-band-from-a-punk-background. With You Are Freaking Me Out, produced by Steven Haigler (the Pixies, Local H, Quicksand), Samiam continue cranking out quality radio-friendly tunes with singable melodies, somewhat downtrodden lyrics, and driving beats. Where other bands churn out formulaic, interchangeable alterna-fodder, Samiam have meticulously-set pop gems twinkling in a sturdy, ungarishly decorated solid gold band.