Patent Pending, to plenty I am sure this is a perfectly new name. Let me tell you that this will not be the case for very long. I actually have a little story about this band which will be a good introduction for the band, and is quite different than the whole I found them on net story we have heard too many times. It was last summer at a local and somewhat close band fest called Six50. A youth group leader runs it and it usually is a good times although it has a tendency to have a dead beat crowd. It was pushing 100 degrees outside and people were very hesitant about a mosh if you will. Well
Patent Pending showed up and changed everything. They started by inviting everyone up on stage and ending up breaking the stage. So a friend of mine whom usually does sound ran over and hammered some boards back into the stage and got it all fixed. With a crazy start like that their set only got better. One couldn't help but move to their fast paced pop punk sound. Its energy was felt fully by all around and their stage presence was pro quality. For half an hour I was blown away with how well the band performed, how much fun they looked like they were having, and just how funny in general they are. They can put on a great show and keep up the humor which is a definite plus. Their website is www.patentpendingsmells.com, I mean how many bands do that? Well all of that made me want to keep up with them, as in checking their purevolume and myspace sites on a somewhat regular basis. Of course I got excited when I found out they were releasing a full length record titled
Save Each Other the Whales Are Doing Fine. I was even more excited when I found a copy of it at the local Best Buy. A band of four wonderful guys from Long Island who hardly had a name for themselves last summer now had a record available at a big name store. It was blown away and hadn't even listened to the disk yet.
Well I had actually heard the first two tracks since they released them prior to the release of the album. Both of which had impressed me, as the production was very pleasing and the sound was exactly as I remembered. The overall mix of the record is darn near perfect for the genre; especially as far as the guitar and bass levels. In plenty of areas the tones are so that you can hear both at the same time without one really over powering the other, which is a huge plus. Drums sound fairly standard in sound, which is not a bad thing at all as they do an above average job throughout the record. The main vocals are really a treat, as they have a fairly distinctive tone which is very pleasing. As mentioned before the lyrics can hold some humor in plenty of cases, but there is never an impression that this band is completely a joke. The general sound of the band is a mix of pop, punk and even some ska elements. Often times the lyrics are very fast pace compared to the music. Don't get the wrong impression as the music is rarely ever slow, but the lyrics come out in a very rapid pace in some cases. The second song
This Can't Happen Again is a great example of this, as it has the fast lyrics, humor, and is a good representation of the band's sound.
I believe again
ADD and OCD and every letter in between and every single step I take
I'm dying,
Hoping you could find the time to help me
Get my life in mind with every single move you make
I can breathe again
Since there is only one guitarist music work is usually fairly straightforward, but never becomes overly dull. The lyrics work wonderfully with the song, and a nice hook comes out in the chorus. Humor once again is revealed during the hilarious
Cheer Up Emo Kid. Opening with some side-splitting lines...
I've got a problem with everyone I know
I've got a problem I want everyone to know
I got home late last night from the punk rock show
I say it sucked because I'm emo
While the lyrics are on the joking side, the instrumentals are more on the serious side. Things open with a wonderful riff and stay tight and solid. Once again
Patent Pending proves that they can incorporate humor into their songs without ever coming off as a messing around, standard, stereotypical immature pop punk band. They also prove that they are capable of more than one style. On the third track
Decemberween some horns come into play, as their sub-genre of ska is revealed. Some upstroke guitar makes up the intro, once more showing some new roots. It offers a nice change of pace, but there trademark style is missed in many ways. Their main style mixes with various elements once more, working out a little more successful during
Old And Out of Tune. Opening with soft vocals and acoustic guitar, this song has a completely different mood than the rest of the album. When things begin to pick up, the vocals and instrumentals sound so inspiring. It's not that they are all over the place going crazy; it is merely remarkable how well it all fits together. Harmonies are nailed, adding a great deal of depth to the chorus while a nicely done progression is heard in the back round. It is a perfect example of how
Patent Pending excels in creating fantastic songs, not matter what elements they choose to use or what path they take a turn onto.
Whether it be slow or fast, punk rock or ska, or serious or humorous, it is obvious that
Patent Pending creates the type of music that they want to. They pour their hearts out and things end up sounding inspiring, honest, and rock solid. The diversity found on the album just shows exactly how these young guys are not afraid of taking risks. Between their wacky sense of humor, creative imaginations, and immensely tight playing, something special is truly created. Seeing as the band is anything but ordinary, the future looks awfully bright for them. It seems as thoguh they will continue to try out untouched paths and go places plenty have strayed away from. Playing it safe is obviously a phrase these Long Island rockers have not choose to obey, as they have pretty much ignored the conventional, nothing new to the table, painfully standard and cliche debut record some many bands in this genre seem to put out. Do not be confused; as this band is not some odd experimental project, rather they stand apart from those in their genre as opposed to the general field of music. Regardless, at such a young age with a positive attitude, and energized members,
Patent Pending is a name that will soon be familiar to a much wider audience. Their fuse is on fire and it is only a matter of time until the
Patent Pending bomb explodes.
Final Rating: 4/5
