59 Times The Pain

Calling the Public (Epitaph)
by Tim Den

59 Times The Pain have come 180 degrees since their inception as a NYHC-influenced unit. ’99’s End of the Millennium hinted at the coming change, but Calling the Public reveals a whole new identity. Gone are the tough guy ideals that spawned the band’s moniker. They’re replaced by ’60s backbeat, The Clash’s chiming guitars and accessible singing, rounded out by “simple three-chord magic.”

Less decadent than countrymen Backyard Babies, less balls-out than The Hellacopters, but right alongside Buzzcocks and the more British moments of Rancid. 59 Times The Pain is as rowdy as Give ’em Enough Rope and just as addictive. And melodic. And rockin’!
(2798 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026)