The Hum Hums - Battle Line 7"

Waterslide/Eccentic Pop/Monster Zero/One Chord Wonder (2018)

I really love The Hum Hums.  They are one of my current favorite bands and the fact that I got to see them play while I was in Tokyo will always be something that's very special to me.  Battle Line is a four song 7" that highlights everything that I love about this band.

"Baby Mine (No One But You)" starts things off with an uptempo chord progression and a hooky chorus with the band's trademark backing vocal harmonies that give any band a run for their money.  "The Girl From Romania" slows this down just a bit, and has a feel to it that reminds me of mid 90s era The Mr. T Experience.

First up on the B side is the title track "Battle Line."  This one is a punchy blast of crunchy guitar and is a pretty straightforward pop punk song.  The final song, "I Can't Take It," is my personal favorite of the bunch, once again because of the absolutely tremendous vocal harmonies.  I've definitely caught myself singing along to the chorus on this one.

The Hum Hums are great.  I've yet to hear a song by them that I didn't love and I'm glad they keep putting out more records.  Hopefully they'll have another full length coming soon.

The Hum Hums - Battle Line 7":
https://watersliderecords.bandcamp.com/album/battle-line

Capitalist Kids - Brand Damage LP - Yellow w/ Pink Splatter Vinyl

Brassneck / Eccentric Pop (2017)

For the uninitiated, Capitalist Kids are pretty much the best modern band playing the sort of straight up, 90's influenced pop punk that I love.  We're talking Mr. T Experience & Zoinks caliber tuneage  here.  There's no one doing better in 2017.  

That being said, even though I do really like this record, it's a bit of a let down for me when compared to prior releases of theirs.  It actually has nothing to do with the music at all.  The band is still cranking out ultra catchy songs with the sort of dynamic choruses that other bands wish they could craft.  It's really the subject matter that is a little lacking for me this time around.

Typically, the Capitalist Kids split their subject matter between witty love songs and politically themed ones.  This time out, the split is skewed dramatically towards the romance side of things, though I do think that part of that has to do with all of the songs being so short.  Only two of the fourteen clock in at over two minutes.  

I've always preferred their lefty pop myself as the band has a real knack for wrapping their heads around complex thoughts and serving them up in a wry and fun manner.  That's missing on Brand Damage a bit, but the songs still soar.  For those who miss the glory days of poppy punk rock from the 1990's, you're not going to find a band doing it better than Capitalist Kids.  Hell, this is miles better than that Mr. T Experience record that came out this year.  It's absolutely worth picking up.

Capitalist Kids - Brand Damage:

https://brassneckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/capitalist-kids-brand-damage