Bottomline

In and Out of Luck (Nice Guy)
by Lauren Bussard

I won’t deny it: Bouncy pop-punk makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, kinda like a nice cocktail on a Tuesday afternoon. However, I can still tell when it sucks, and much to my surprise, with this album (their first full-length) Bottomline executes the tried-and-true formula with an unexpected amount of skill. Their thank-you list reads like a who’s who of Drive-Thru Records, but on all 10 fun-packed songs, their energy level surpasses that of even the most ambitious Warped Tour bands, and the nonstop guitar squeals and sweet harmonies of the two lead singers give their songs a fresh sound. Their lyrics sometimes get a little repetitive (ninety-nine percent of the lines in “Afraid” are “I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid… “). But hey, they’re allowed to write simple songs about simple stuff – these boys actually are teenagers, unlike the guys in Blink-182, who are, like, 30. So listen to this CD. Sing along. Pretend you’re 16. It’s ok, no one’s looking.
(PO Box 42815 Cincinnati, OH 45242)