Pop-Punk Fever

(Poppunk.com/Nice Guy)
by Scott Hefflon

Some good names here, and some of the stuff that makes my skin crawl, but others may have the list the other way around (cuz they’re stupid), so that makes this a good comp. Well-rounded, at least.

Actually, the main reason I’m drawn to this comp is that the second song is by the Netherlands’ Travoltas who are simply amazing. I can listen to their Coldfront release, Teenbeat, end-to-end and hit repeat cuz I’m too lazy to pick something else, cuz when ya get right down to it, the Travoltas the second time around is still better than most punkpop. Their sweet Beach Boys-inspired powerpop simply rocks and’ll make you wonder what’s wrong with other bands for not being even close to this good. I think the only reason they’re not on everyone’s lips (like Randy finally is) is that Teenbeat is on Coldfront, who could fuck up a sure thing by being fumbling dipshits. But dipshits who know how to pick ’em (and sometimes even pull it together long enough to do a mailout).

Other good bands here are No Motiv, Yellowcard, and Death on Wednesday, as well as a number of pretty decent semi-names like The Juliana Theory (who I hear like themselves plenty, so I don’t lose a wink of sleep not giving a shit about them and their emotional posing), Dynamite Boy, Big in Japan, Junction 18, and Student Rick, plus a slew of bands I’m not familiar with or couldn’t think of any clever way to bring up (though a few show promise): The Fonzarellies, Showoff, Daycare Swindlers, Bottom Line, Fake ID, 5¢ Deposit, The Pennyroyals, The Scaries, Nothing to Lose, The Unknown, Quit, Clothesline, The Arena Drive, Chasing the Yellow Line, The Scrubs.
(poppunk.com, niceguyrecords.com)