| River Groves Workhorse | 4.0 |
| Kanye West Late Registration | 4.0 |
| The Notorious B.I.G. Ready to Die | 4.5 |
| Joyce Manor Never Hungover Again | 4.5 |
| The Menzingers Rented World | 4.0 |
| PUP PUP | 4.0 |
| Icarus the Owl Love Always, Leviathan | 3.5 |
| Arctic Monkeys AM | 3.0 |
| Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | 4.5 |
| The Bronx The Bronx (IV) | 4.5 |
| River Groves River Groves | 4.0 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Partycrasher | 4.0 |
| Red City Radio Titles | 4.0 |
| Bloc Party Silent Alarm | 4.0 |
| The Dear Hunter Migrant | 4.5 |
| Sharks No Gods | 4.5 |
| Hostage Calm Please Remain Calm | 4.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Señor and the Queen | 3.0 |
| The Gaslight Anthem iTunes Session | 3.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Handwritten | 3.0 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth There's No Leaving Now | 3.5 |
| A Loss For Words No Sanctuary | 4.0 |
| Lights Siberia | 4.0 |
| Kids in Glass Houses Dirt | 3.5 |
| Kids in Glass Houses Smart Casual | 3.0 |
| Cheap Girls Giant Orange | 3.0 |
| Thrice Vheissu | 3.5 |
| Thrice Beggars | 4.5 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Happiness | 4.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain | 2.5 |
| PM Today In Medias Res | 4.0 |
| The Horrible Crowes Elsie | 4.5 |
| The Menzingers A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology | 3.0 |
| The Sound of Animals Fighting Tiger and the Duke | 3.0 |
| Cee Lo Green The Lady Killer | 3.5 |
| The Menzingers On the Impossible Past | 5.0 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Sink or Swim | 3.5 |
| Lights Acoustic | 3.5 |
| Jonny Craig A Dream Is A Question You Don't Know How To Answer | 3.0 |
| COMMONSOUND The Rapture | 3.0 |
| Crime In Stereo The Troubled Stateside | 2.5 |
| Strike Anywhere Exit English | 3.0 |
| Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 4.0 |
| Emarosa Relativity | 2.5 |
| Emarosa Emarosa | 4.5 |
| Paramore Riot! | 3.0 |
| VersaEmerge Perceptions | 3.0 |
| Zechs Marquise Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare | 2.5 |
| Strung Out Top Contenders: The Best Of Strung Out | 4.0 |
| The Menzingers Chamberlain Waits | 5.0 |
| Hostage Calm Hostage Calm | 4.0 |
| Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans | 4.0 |
| Rx Bandits ...And the Battle Begun | 4.0 |
| Rx Bandits Mandala | 3.5 |
| The Lawrence Arms Oh! Calcutta! | 3.5 |
| The Narrative The Narrative | 3.5 |
| Rx Bandits Progress | 4.0 |
| Gatsby's American Dream Volcano | 4.0 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland | 4.0 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold as Love | 3.0 |
| NOFX Punk in Drublic | 3.5 |
| Japandroids Post-Nothing | 2.5 |
| The Fall of Troy Doppelganger | 4.0 |
| Red City Radio The Dangers of Standing Still | 4.5 |
It's been a while since a real punk band has emerged from nowhere. For that matter, it's been a while since a real punk album has been released -- with the exception of veterans like Bad Religion, Strung Out, and Lagwagon consistently releasing (for the most part) 'classic' punk records. Not since The Bouncing Souls' decade-old release "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" has anyone written such powerful, sing-along punk rock. That's why when Red City Radio came to light in 2009 with their debut EP To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie, punks everywhere came out of hiding to shout along with four hard-working Oklahoma boys. Two years later, the boys prove that Woody Guthrie was no fluke -- they don't miss a step with their debut full-length.
Paul Pendley, one of the voices behind Red City Radio's trademark scruffy vocals, said "we don't think there will be a huge sonic departure from our EP... big choruses, big hooks, but with some new surprises." I couldn't sum it up any better; if you have had the privilege of hearing the 5 track EP, chances are they had you shouting "we won't be silenced anymore!" at the top of your lungs. Red City Radio took a huge step away from the 'new punk' bands like VersaEmerge, A Day to Remember, and the always atrocious Asking Alexandria to create a sound that many of us believed had been lost in time forever.
The Dangers of Standing Still builds on every strength the band showed in their debut EP. Red City Radio have an uncanny ability to write songs that, if you love punk rock, you can't sit still to. Coming-of-age anthem and lead single Spinning in Circles is a Gateway Drug exemplifies the band's undeniably catchy choruses and irresistibly charming pop-punk sing-alongs. The song is an ode to being the young, stupid kids we all inevitably grow up to be, testifying that "we were young impressionable kids, we didn't know any better than this." Red City Radio have a universality in both their music and their lyrics that is incredibly passionate without being too preachy or condescending.
A song-by-song analysis would be both unnecessary and counter-productive. Red City Radio is not a band that aims to make one amazing song after another. Instead, they have succeeded in crafting one of the most unique sounds in punk rock today by imposing cigarette-soaked shouts on finely-tuned pop-punk anthems. My one complaint about The Dangers of Standing Still -- and it is a fastidious one at that -- is that the songs can seem to run together upon first listen. This is due largely in part to the fact that most (if not all) of the songs on the album are in the same key. However, Red City Radio has done an amazing job giving each song a distinct attitude, and as the songs begin to grow on you they each take a comfortable, memorable spot in your heart.
I could go on for hours about the amazing album that is The Dangers of Standing Still, but I can summarize their accomplishments in one bold statement: Red City Radio is one of the finest acts in punk rock (and I dare say in all of music) today. Their near-perfected mixture of honesty, energy, passion, and good old-fashioned rock and roll is unsurpassed by any band in the past decade. With the grit of real punk lingering in their pop-punk anthems and hooks that would make Chuck Ragan proud, Red City Radio have made a contentious bid for punk album of the year. And if these four Oklahoma boys don't have you screaming "JOOOOOONATHAN!" by the end of the album, you probably missed the point.
Recommended Tracks:
Two for Flinching
Spinning in Circles is a Gateway Drug
I'm Well, You're Poison
This Day Has Seen Better Bars ("JOOOOOONATHAN!") |
| The Tallest Man on Earth Shallow Grave | 3.5 |
| Red City Radio To the Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie | 4.5 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt | 5.0 |
| Rise Against The Sufferer and the Witness | 3.5 |
| Hot Water Music Caution | 3.0 |
| Bad Religion The Empire Strikes First | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta Amputechture | 3.0 |
| The Mars Volta The Bedlam in Goliath | 3.0 |
| The Roots How I Got Over | 3.0 |
| Frank Sinatra In The Wee Small Hours | 3.5 |
| Closure in Moscow The Penance and the Patience | 4.0 |
| Closure in Moscow First Temple | 4.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem American Slang | 4.5 |
| Cody ChesnuTT The Headphone Masterpiece | 3.5 |
| The Mars Volta Frances the Mute | 4.0 |
| The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound | 5.0 |
| Michael Jackson Thriller | 3.5 |
| Michael Jackson Off the Wall | 4.0 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Career Suicide | 4.5 |
| Mute The Raven | 4.0 |
| Propagandhi Supporting Caste | 4.5 |
| Thrice The Artist in the Ambulance | 3.5 |
| Silversun Pickups Swoon | 4.0 |
| At the Drive-In Relationship of Command | 4.5 |
| Muse Origin of Symmetry | 3.0 |
| Strung Out Live in a Dive | 4.0 |
| Rammstein Rosenrot | 3.0 |
| Gunther Pleasureman | 5.0 |
| Strung Out Agents of the Underground | 4.5 |
| Billy Talent Billy Talent III | 3.5 |
| The Mars Volta Octahedron | 3.5 |
| Strung Out Prototypes and Painkillers | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Powerslave | 3.5 |
| The T4 Project Story-Based Concept Album | 4.0 |
| Pearl Jam Ten | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium | 5.0 |
| Dustin Kensrue Please Come Home | 3.0 |
| Jason Mraz Mr. A-Z | 2.0 |
| Jason Mraz Waiting For My Rocket To Come | 3.0 |
| Jason Mraz We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things | 3.5 |
| James Morrison Undiscovered | 4.0 |
| Nebula Charged | 3.5 |
| Nebula Dos EP's | 3.5 |
| Jack Johnson On and On | 2.0 |
| Jack Johnson Brushfire Fairytales | 2.5 |
| Jack Johnson In Between Dreams | 3.0 |
| Strung Out Another Day In Paradise | 3.0 |
| Strung Out Crossroads and Illusions | 3.5 |
| The Who 20th Century Masters | 2.5 |
| The Who Quadrophenia | 3.0 |
| Bad Religion Stranger Than Fiction | 3.5 |
| Rush 2112 | 3.0 |
| blink-182 Enema Of The State | 3.5 |
| Sum 41 Half Hour Of Power | 3.0 |
| Sum 41 All Killer No Filler | 3.5 |
| Sum 41 Does This Look Infected? | 3.5 |
| Sum 41 Chuck | 2.0 |
| Alice in Chains Sap | 3.0 |
| Soundgarden Badmotorfinger | 3.5 |
| Stone Temple Pilots Core | 3.0 |
| Tool Lateralus | 3.0 |
| Zero Down With A Lifetime To Pay | 4.0 |
| One of the best punk albums of the 2000's. A fun, nostalgic throwback to melodic skate punk, With A Lifetime To Pay has no weak points. A captivating album from start to finish. |
| Led Zeppelin Best Of, Vol. 1: Early Days | 3.5 |
| Deep Purple The Very Best Of Deep Purple | 3.5 |
| Billy Talent Billy Talent II | 3.0 |
| Billy Talent Billy Talent | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion New Maps of Hell | 3.5 |
| Audioslave Audioslave | 2.5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream | 3.5 |
| Alice in Chains Greatest Hits | 3.5 |
| Jimi Hendrix Experience Hendrix: The Best of Hendrix | 3.5 |
| Audioslave Out of Exile | 3.5 |
| Tool 10,000 Days | 3.5 |
| Strung Out An American Paradox | 4.0 |
| Strung Out Twisted By Design | 4.0 |
| Wolfmother Wolfmother | 4.0 |
| Strung Out Blackhawks Over Los Angeles | 4.0 |
| Strung Out Exile In Oblivion | 4.5 |
| Strung Out Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues | 4.5 |
| Strung Out The Element of Sonic Defiance | 4.5 |
