Review Summary: "It's the ones you can't take back that'll getcha in the end"
Normally when I bring up punk from Boston I'm talking about either the greats, like SS Decontrol or something, or the newest (f
ucking hate this word)
hype band, like The Boston Strangler or something. That sh
it is a hardstyle-posing tough guy asshole's wettest dream. Yeah, well...this is not that.
Peeple Watchin', featuring Zack Smith of The Credentials fame, are one example of Boston's thriving pop-punk scene. The demo was decent, the split (with Nona) was good, and the inevitable self-titled 7" featured a track with the great city's name in the title. This is a tried and true recipe. With their first full length release,
Somethin' Ta Tell Ya, the band grooves into a new phase of their Replacements-meets-Credentials brand of punk rock. Fans of both those bands will again be pleased by the buttery smooth guitar driven cuts like "'95" and "Just Like Them."
And shout-a-longs there are aplenty with the tri-vocal attack brandishing a liquor-soaked lyrics sheet unafraid to pull any punches on pop-punk cliches. There's the nostalgia-drenched "VHS," where lines like "Found a VHS of the old band playing a talent show at the school gym, covering songs we grew up with. I guess not much is different. Can we still f
uck this morning up with sour breath and punk haircuts before leaving behind friendships forged in convenience store parking lots?" cut to the quick and are sure to satisfy the Joyce Manor And The Amazing Parade of Tumblr-core crowd. This is an album made for your booze-binging roommate, the hopeless romantics of your life, that girl you who was just too much of a sweetheart for you to break up with.
Peeple Watchin' have a lot going for them in that they're not too jaded to be singing songs about being old souls just trying to have a good time, as well as attempting to escape to a place where things maybe aren't so complicated. I think they have a bright future ahead of them.
