Teenage Bottlerocket

Tales From Wyoming

Written by: PP on 19/05/2015 23:41:20

For their sixth album "Tales From Wyoming", no frills pop punkers Teenage Bottlerocket have decided on a shocking change: they've added a third colour to the album cover. That's about as much change as has happened with the band since their early days, although the quality of song has swinged somewhat from album to album. While old fans swear by "Total" or "Warning Device", the band's breakthrough came with 2009's "They Came From The Shadows" which pretty much established them as the biggest band in the no frills punk rock scene right now. Only problem is, follow up "Freak Out!" in 2012 was totally forgettable and suggested the band had completely run out of ideas. I mean it's not that they've ever been a treasure chest of originality, considering their brand of no frills pop punk is as cheesy as it is identical to other bands ranging from Aussie legends Frenzal Rhomb to the upbeat pop punkers The Copyrights and The Murderburgers, but at least most albums have been solid releases in the genre.

So here come the good news: "Tales From Wyoming" sees the band return to their silly, high octane style from their slightly oddly produced "Freak Out!". Better yet, the songwriting is restored back to normalcy, which means tracks like "In My Head" and "They Call Me Steve" have you singing along in the midst of the circle pit, and even the slower and more pop rock oriented "Cockroach Strikes Again" works as a variety-adding measure. That is often the most critical ingredient on any Bottlerocket album, because most songs follow the same three chord formula with next to no variety in the vocal department. I mean let's be honest here: every Bottlerocket song ever sounds more or less identical. But much like in the past, the band slaloms through this problem via infectious songwriting. "Been Too Long", "Too Much La Collina" are equally fast-paced and catchy as the songs mentioned before, even though they don't sound that different. The lyrical theme is ridiculous (the latter song is about pizza), but if you're complaining about that then you've kinda missed the point with Bottlerocket in the first place.

Overall, "Tales From Wyoming" ranks somewhere in the middle of their back catalogue. It consists predominantly of good songs with a few weaker tracks in between, and rest assured, offers no surprises in any department outside of its cover artwork. So it's basically a straight up Bottlerocket album as usual. Catchy no frills pop punk about nothing particular at all.

Download: In My Head, They Call Me Steve, Been Too Long, Too Much La Collina
For the fans of: Frenzal Rhomb, Masked Intruder, The Copyrights, The Murderburgers
Listen: Facebook

Release date 31.03.2015
Rise Records

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