The a-side kicks thing off with the one-two punch of "Burned" and "Hot Head", the later of which has a squealing intro and slinky lead that make the 60s sound like they didn't suck ass. "Functioning Fine" throws in some throbbing saxophone playing that accentuates the anxiety rock at play for a darker tinge than you might expect.Towards the end of the album, Personality Cult start to edge out their comfort zone (I say this without knowing much about them as I have never heard any of their prior releases not do I know where to get them). "Doing Worse" glides along at the band's typical frantic pace but comes crashing to a minimalist half-minute noise wall before returning to the song's repeated refrain. That mix of bitter and sweet makes things all that more satisfying. This sets up the oscillating stop-start freakout of "Fashionably Late", which makes me feel as though I've already contradicted myself as the exceptions to straightforward power pop on Personality Cu;t prove to be the rule.
Unfortunately, the band allegedly has some tapes and a Euro compilation of some kind but I can't find any info or links on any of it. They also allegedly share members with Natural Causes from Carrboro, North Carolina but I can also not confirm any of this. The two bands don't really sound alike though so who gives a heck, anhwho? So, if you want catchy pogo-ready tunes to clean the gutter to clean you eavestrough this fall, this may be your only option that isn't Personality Cult - but why would you want that?
