(Click picture for complete series album listing, and sample tracks)
So, as a re-cap, this series has produced one decent indie album, one awesome folk/alt album, and one passable ska album. Not much in the way of simplistic, energetic punk yet- until now. I really had no urge to go into this series until I saw Teenage Bottlerocket and The Ergs mentioned, and even then I didn't plan on going into it until I was assured that Rocket would cover Green Day, and The Ergs would pound out a completely unexpected pop song. Well, considering I'm reviewing the whole damn series, I think you know what we're going into.
Gather ten of your closest friends together, and play any Teenage Bottlerocket song on your radio/CD player/Gramophone for them. Odds are, someone will eventually say something along the lines of "Oh wow, Green Day finally made a good album again." So it comes as no surprise that Teenage Bottlerocket is covering the "Having a Blast" off of the pop-punk bible, Dookie. On paper, this is the perfect match. TBR is such an awesome call-back to the glory days of pop-punk where you had music that could carry a message, while maintaining a sense of humor about itself that didn't resort to misogyny or making fun of disabled people (Fuck you, Nodody's and Down Syndrom, and your PC baiting). For the most part, this is a perfect cover of the original- almost too perfect. Although TBR outplays Green Day's original recording, rocking the hell out and just all-around belting out each second of the song in pure greasy-headed, bubblegum goodness, it still sounds almost exactly like the original. TBR's '90s pop-punk style is so inspired by Green Day, that it still sounds exactly like Green Day. There's no real twist on the recording, but considering how well the cover is played, this complaint will only create a problem for the pickiest of music snobs.
Following such a kick-ass opening would be hard, and the only band I think that could match the intensity and style of Bottlerocket's opening track would be The Ergs. In what is supposed to be their last-released recording, The Ergs go out with a bang, continuing their trend of high-energy pop-punk covers of songs that you wouldn't expect would be so kick-ass (making you wish Weird Al formed a punk band- no, I'm not kidding). In a sweet genre mash-up, The Ergs take on Devo's "Blockhead." Taking the catchy synth-punk song, and tossing it into a modern hard punk style was a wise decision. The song only benefits from a bunch of twenty-somethings speeding it up, blasting distorted guitars, and ripping the synth parts out on their guitars while yelling each five-word line as hard as possible. The song is catchy and rocking to the point where I've caught myself pounding my head and shouting "FLAT TOP! STARES STRAIGHT AHEAD! STOCK PARTS! BLOCKHEAD!" in crowded public areas and not feeling embarrassed at all. This song is pure beauty, and will find its place prominently next to the rest of my Ergs recordings, and makes me glad that they went out on such a high note with their last few releases.
Overall, this is probably my favorite album in the series. It's so rocking and catchy and just so damned good, that the only criticism I can think of is just based on some kind of snobby semantics that I completely forget once I start actually listening to the song. That said, anyone who likes any of the original or covering bands, punk, rock, whatever will find something great in this album, whether it's vinyl or MP3. Oh yeah, and the album art is sweet as hell for both, too.
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