The Copyrights

North Sentinel Island

Written by: PP on 21/10/2011 19:05:17

The Copyrights from Carbondale, IL have been surrounded by a great deal of hype prior to the release of their new album "North Sentinel Island" solely given the strength of their EPs and splits they've done in the last two years or so. Listening to some of these songs it's not difficult to see why: they are the quintessential no-frills, feel-good punk rock band, rarely relying on more than just a few chords and simple singalongs for their brand of super-catchy pop punk. Therefore, the impending release of "North Sentinel Island" had been hyped up beyond belief by those in the know, but as is all too often the case with hype blown out of proportions, the album isn't quite as good as you might have expected, and there's one simple reason why: the tempo.

Where bands like The Dopamines (whom The Copyrights sound nearly identical to) offer their no-frills punk rock in a hyper-energetic and fast-paced, instantly likable and catchy manner, The Copyrights rely on a mid tempo three chord punk rock delivery, which all too often leaves the listener wishing they'd floor the pedal to get a circle pit-type of rhythm going, such as on "Expatriate Blues". Don't get me wrong, though, that's not to say that their mid tempo offering isn't good as well. "Hard-Wired" and "Trustees Of Modern Chemistry" have simple, but easily recognizable sing-along choruses that ooze of the feel-good, worry-free mood that is quintessential to no-frills punk rock, and it's impossible not to enjoy the purified simplicity of a track like "Bow Down", which takes no stylistic assumptions and just delivers the expression of The Copyrights in an unadulterated, pure format.

But that's also all that The Copyrights have to offer on "North Sentinel Island": a collection good, solid punk rock songs. They never cross over the 'amazing' or 'wow that is great' threshold. In this scribe's opinion, the tempo is the key reason why that never happens, because it all too often feels like the band are holding back from the desire of playing fast punk rock music. It's just too easy to imagine the songs played faster and how they'd get the edge they need to impress the listener from the get go. Instead, we're left with a bunch of happy-sounding songs where it's clear that the band are doing what they love, but without the impact-factor of bands like The Dopamines, The Hextalls or even Teenage Bottlerocket.

7

Download: Trustees Of Modern Chemistry, Sleep Better, Hard-Wired
For the fans of: The Dopamines, The 20Belows, Dear Landlord, The Hextalls
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 09.08.2011
Red Scare Records

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