The Guts

Sometimes You Just Can’t Win (Cheapskate)
by Ewan Wadharmi

Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? Because he didn’t have The Guts‘ new record, Sometimes You Can’t Win. Since I feel that pop-punk starts with the Ramones and ends with Screeching Weasel, I’m generally averse to the stuff. Cheapskate feels almost the same way, except that they continue with great new finds like The Prozacs and now, The Guts. I never realized what Cheapskate Records meant until I was trying to research The Guts and found that they charge $8 for 33 songs. Even with my pop allergy, this disc wore my batteries out. You heard. Brand new Duracells shot dead by The Guts’ light-hearted, fast-paced PG-rated popunk. How’d they do that? Glad you asked. They’re not sticky sweet bubblegum is how. There are clear, ’50s sock-hop I-killed-my-baby influences, but they never come close to Weezer. Dude one has a unique, cartoonish voice, while dude two has listened to a little Green Day once or twice. Very nice so far. (Apparently one of these dudes was in The Queers and Nobodys, which makes perfect sense.) Every song sounds different. Even better. And three, the songs are well-crafted with a short, to the point guitar solo, and then on with the show. Stellar drumming, only a couple filler songs, some organ, fantastic. Kevin Lyman should really book these guys.
(www.cheapskaterecords.com)