Adolescents

Presumed Insolent

Written by: PP on 29/12/2013 03:11:42

Adolescents are criminally underrated at least if you consider their influence on modern-day punk heavyweights: everyone from Bad Religion, NOFX, Face To Face, Good Riddance, The Offspring, Pennywise, Blink 182 and many others have quoted the 80s supergroup as an influence. For those not in the know, Adolescents counts members of Agent Orange and Social Distortion among its members, and they released their self-titled debut album back in 1981. They haven't been terribly active since then, releasing only their fifth album in 2011 in the form of "The Fastest Kid Alive", but they seem determined in changing that given they're back again with a new album called "Presumed Insolent" only two years later.

Basically, if you're new to Adolescents, you can expect a fairly old school take on punk rock. Their expression is far more laid back and relaxed than the tight and to-the-point delivery of most bands in the genre today, allowing them to rely on mid tempo and even slower structures to create unusual rhythmic textures compared to what you're used to hearing in punk rock. "Conquest Of The Planet Of The See Monkeys" is one such example, where classy solos penetrate the chord based expression, which isn't particularly fast while still falling distinctly underneath the punk rock umbrella. Descendents come to mind in particular, but so does the silly humour of Chixdiggit, as well as the anthemic sing alongs of Face To Face and H2O. "Forever Summer" relies on Bad Religion style 80s riffing, whereas other songs are more to-the-point 80s style barely two-minute stabs at the genre.

The best part about "Presumed Insolent" is how different it sounds to the stuff you're used to hearing from punk rock bands these days. They're unashamedly old school, yet their expression doesn't feel dated. Great songwriting that's not super flashy in terms of sing alongs or riffs means you'll spend a few extra listens getting into the songs, but they're fun in their own way, and remind you that all it takes to write a good punk rock song is a few melodic riffs, some unusual vocal dynamics, and you're good to go. See "Broken Window" as another fine example of the latter. Either way, Adolescents may have been a band for 33 years now, but "Presumed Insolent" is a surprisingly fresh punk album that deserves to be heard.

Download: Conquest Of The Planet Of The See Monkeys, Forever Summer, Dissatisfaction Guaranteed, Broken Window
For the fans of: Descendents, Chixdiggit, Face To Face, H2O, Bad Religion
Listen: Facebook

Release date 26.07.2013
Concrete Jungle

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