Review Summary: The Bosstones eighth album, Pin Points and Gin Joints, has everything an excellent Bosstones album should. It doesn’t have many heavy punk based songs that the Bosstones specialized in when they just started out. But instrumentally the songs are all cra
1.Graffiti Worth Reading
The song has a very up tempo sound to it and a chorus that provides some good energy, it’s not a filler but it’s certainly not the best on the album. 3/5
2.Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah
This is one of the catchiest songs on the album, its chorus is the same noises you see above and is packed with a good amount of energy. Lyrically the song makes little to no sense but the upbeat guitar and simple horn use makes it a great MMB’s party song. You’ll find yourself singing the chorus most of your day. 4/5
3.The Route that I took
This is one of my personal favorites on the album; it narrates front man Dickey Barrett’s inner thoughts throughout his life and creates a great soundtrack to those deep thoughts you have in your car. The song itself is a very smooth flow of horns and upstrokes that complement Barrett’s toned down storytelling voice. It’s one of those Bosstones songs that bring back memories of those early days in life. 5/5
4.Your Left Right?
This is a pretty solid song that has a catchy chorus and lyrics that grab a person’s attention. It isn’t a very heavy song but has a distinct Bosstones ska feel to it and is easy to sing along with. The songs high point is its lyrics, which deal with regret and confusion that goes along with losing someone. 4/5
5.Too Many Stars
This is a heavier song compared to the rest of the album but that’s about all it has going for it. Instrumentally it’s very simple but is delivered with a fair amount of energy. I wouldn’t spend too much time on it since there are much better songs to come. I get the feeling it’s just filler but if you enjoy the heavier songs give it a shot. 2/5
6.Your Life
This song is more in step with the album than the previous track. The music is a very smooth ska sound that goes very well with Barrett’s reflective lyrics towards his life and career. It starts with an easy flowing intro that leads right into the story, overall a very relaxing song with lyrics that reel you in and make you think. 3/5
7.I Wrote It
This is easily my favorite track by the MMB’s, another story about the magic of youth, this song starts off slowly with Dickey talking about writing a song and gives some background on his jacket. The second verse after the break is a high power, masculine fueled ass kicking set of lines that shows off the true Bostonian drinker in Barrett. It picks up a lot of energy at the chorus and stays like that till the last verse where it’s slowed down and Barrett is left summarizing the whole thing. Being from Boston myself I take a lot of pride in the Bosstones and this song consistently makes me proud to be from the bean. Barrett says it best with the lines “I have a love for whiskey; I chased it with a beer. I have a love for Boston and I loved writing there.” 5/5
8.Not To Me on That Night
This songs sounds, feels, smells, and plays like a Bosstones song. It starts off with a horn that immediately stops you from hitting skip and then follows through as a very mellow song that should bring your heart rate down after ‘I Wrote It”. The song throws enough energy into the chorus that you’ll find yourself singing it hours later. Overall not a bad song, flows nicely after the previous track and provides a fun listen. 4/5
9.Wasted Summers
Vocally this song has a lot of energy; it’s played over a punk guitar sound which keeps it at a nice level of power. The band still makes use of its horn section, which jumps in during the chorus to make Barrett’s gravel tone voice seem less rough. I have a biased towards this track because when this album came out I was spending the summer of my senior year wasting time in my friend’s basements and cars, an issue that any former 18 year old can relate to. Not a bad track overall. 3.5/5
10.Sister Mary
An old-school sounding ska song, you can take or leave this it as it’s mostly just a filler song. But it does have a nice vintage skank to it that reminds me of the Aquabats. 2/5
11.It Will Be
Another song where Dickey is reflecting on the trials of life, the song doesn’t drag on and maintains a steady ska beat but I found it to be a boring track. If you plan on listening to the album in its entirety it will keep you entertained but if you just want the key tracks just skip this on. 3/5
12. Death valley Vipers
Like the previous track this is just quick filler in the album. The horn section shows off its skill but besides that it’s a pretty boring track. 2/5
13. The Bricklayers Story
This is a guitar driven rock song that shows that the Bosstones can still party harder than most bands today can. It tells a cool story, and provides enough energy for it to be fun to drive to. 3/5
14. Pretty Sad Excuse
If It weren’t for ‘I wrote it” this would be the albums crowning achievement! The longest song on the album, “Pretty Sad Excuse” describes the insecurities that people face, told through the first person perspective of Barrett. It keeps a calm steady pace for about 3 minutes which helps emphasize the simple yet brilliant lyrics in the beginning. After that time, the song takes off into a heavy driven rock song whose chorus will make you want to win an arm wrestle or do something else really manly. The heaviness ends abruptly and picks up with the same smooth vibe the first half had. The seamless transition makes you wonder if they hadn’t just mix two songs together. This song is well worth listening to, hell you should skip to this first and then listen to the rest of the album as if this was the first track. 5/5
The albums end with Barrett crooning “I’m not sure how it came to be but it’s the way to carry on”. An attitude the Bosstones have always given off, they see the world change around them but press on by questioning it each new album and this one is no different. Overall an excellent album that reminds the world of Ska why The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are titans in the genre.
