The Loved Ones

Build and Burn (Fat)
by Scott Hefflon

Dug the debut in 2006, and am liking this one too. Members of The Explosion needed work after that band bit the big one (they always did, if you ask me, but you didn’t, but I’m a reviewer and give my opinion before asked to, often in long, parenthetic meanderings) and join ex-members of The Cursed, Trial by Fire, and Paint it Black to make some REAL music. This is the kinda effortless and catchy pop punk that you hesitate to call punk, cuz it’s often rooted in simple good hooks the likes of which Springsteen, Mellencamp, Tom Petty, or more somber Green Day might pen. There’s a bit of vocal hoarseness that gives it some edge, but otherwise, “those emo fuckers” might slip into a show without getting their asses kicked, because this stuff is emotional, but more in a “this guy’s seen some shit, let him tell his story” way, instead of “quit yer boo-hooing, wipe your streaking eyeliner, and get lost before I kick your skinny ass and you write another insipid song about it.”

This is the kinda stuff The Blasting Room used to record and produce and make transcend its limitations. This was done by a couple guys in the Bouncing Souls, who keep it real-sounding, but I’d like to see what Bill and Stephen could do with this one next time ’round.

Oh, and “Louisiana” is such a classic tune, I checked and checked to make sure it wasn’t a Johnny Cash cover, or someone of equal respect who writes effortless tunes that speak the truth, plain and simple, and you get it, you feel it, you rock along with it.
(www.fatwreck.com)