Ten Foot Pole

Setlist

Written by: PP on 19/09/2017 20:45:04

It's been a long while since we heard anything about California skate punkers Ten Foot Pole. Throughout the 90s they released a series of skate punk records that belonged to the golden 90s wave of melodic skate/punk that took the world over by a storm via Epitaph, Fat Wreck, and the Tony Hawk game series. Thirteen years have passed since their last full-length "Subliminable Messages", but just in case your eyebrows rose a little when spotting Ten Foot Pole in your social media feed, their new release "Setlist" isn't exactly a new album. Instead, as its title suggests, it reads basically a Ten Foot Pole setlist should they choose to play some shows in the near future. It's not exactly a best of album rather than a collection of 11 old tracks re-recorded and put together on an album together with two brand new tracks (although "Scars" was released as a single earlier).

As such, the purpose of "Setlist" is a little puzzling. It's promoted as the band's own favorite cuts off their back catalogue, but they're faithful to the originals (with the exception of the first two albums considering they now have a different singer) and merely have improved production compared to the rougher style of the past. But it does give us a chance to revisit some of the most underrated skate punk songs of the 90s. Songs like "My Wall", "Kicked Out Of Kindergarten", and the infectiously catchy "Nova Scotia" showcase skate punk played exactly right: tight riffs, upbeat rhythms, and lightning speed tempo that's accompanied by snotty, but catchy vocals. References to peers like Frenzal Rhomb, Satanic Surfers, Much The Same, and No Fun At All are scattered all over the place, which isn't surprising considering they're all essentially from the same scene and era.

From sing-alongs to circle pits, "Setlist" is rammed with jams for the skate punk crowd that brings out the best from the golden 90s. It's not an album that will convince anyone new about the awesomeness of skate punk, but the already converted, it's a tight, infectiously catchy reminder of how the genre sounds like at its best.

8

Download: My Wall, Nova Scotia, Kicked Out Of Kindergarten, Never Look Back
For the fans of: Frenzal Rhomb, Pulley, No Fun At All, Satanic Surfers, Much The Same
Listen: Facebook

Release date 26.05.2017
Cyber Tracks

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