(Click picture for complete series album listing, and sample tracks)
Alright, I'm getting a little tired of this series (don't get me wrong, I love listening to it, it's just getting boring to write about it when so much good stuff is coming out), so I'm going to just fire out reviews of the next three records today and tomorrow so I can get on to some more juicy stuff.
With that out of the way, I'd like to go into what's probably my favorite of any album in the series. The album starts out with Lemuria covering "Alec Eiffel", originally by alternative pioneers The Pixies. There's always been a connection between the two in my eyes, with The Pixies having developed a punk-influenced indie sound, and Lemuria having an indie-influenced punk sound. They both have a unique, interesting sound that are both great to listen to in many different situations.
That bit of badly-explained musical opinion aside, Lemuria's cover of "Alec Eiffel" is a great track to listen to. It's hard to find weird, quirky punk nowadays that can take itself seriously enough to not hate the stuff completely, but Lemuria has always been there to provide a fix to keep my shakes from getting too bad. If their previous work is a dose of drug for my addiction, then this song is a year's worth of methadone injected right into my brain, because their cover is a freaking awesome indie/punk cover of a somewhat poppy old song. Every part is played well, from the instruments to the synthed vocals. It's energetic, odd, and catchy as hell, and is definitely a great add to any fun playlist.
The cute pop-punk of Lemuria eventually leads to the dark bubblegum of Off With Their Heads and their cover of The Nobody's "Scarred by Love." This series is starting to make me mad, because between this track and JJ Nobody's involvement in Drag the River, Suburban Home seems dedicated to retroactively not hate The Nobodys as much as I normally do, because the song on this album is so god-damned good that I can't help but applaud anyone involved with writing, recording, or covering it. Off With Their Heads takes a somewhat formulaic suburban pop-punk song, removes the twangy treble and obnoxious nasally vocals, and replaces them with a faster tempo, crustier music, and Ryan Young's deep, raspy vocals to create the darkest bubblegum dance punk you'll ever hope to hear. The song is a great depressive listen due to its subject matter and dark sound, yet still fun to bop along to with its semi-upbeat style and catchiness. Just like Hospitals and From the Bottom, I'll never get tired of the latest offering from Off With Their Heads.
Overall, this record includes itself in a three-way tie with Drag the River and Teenage Bottlerocket/The Ergs' albums for my favorite in the series. It's a must-listen for modern punk enthusiasts, and may even get a listen out of people who aren't really into the type of music or scene of either band. Good stuff.
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