Last Year's Resolution

Last Year's Resolution
"There's Always Next Summer"
* * 1/2

Last Year's Resolution is a quartet of nice guys, so nice in fact, that they remind me of MXPX's cover of the Social Distortion song "Sick Boy."

MXPX's version differs little from Social Distortion's greased-up ditty about fights, leather jackets and switchblades. That is, except for this part where MXPX, a Christian punk band, substitutes these lyrics, "he'll hang out with her all night," for Mike Ness's line, "he'll make love to her all night."

Last Year's Resolution will hang out with you all night. Maybe singer Nick Whitaker will keep you up with heartfelt conversation about how he can't stand his town, or maybe he'll explore his relationship with his parents.

In the band's first album, that doesn't sound half bad. This record was mixed in the apartment of guitarist Blake Jarman, who works a night job as a janitor.

The group feted the album's release in a Dec. 7 concert at a downtown club. The album is a do-it-yourself-job, but you may not notice it when you hear it.

It's a very bright album of energetic pop-punk, but Last Year's Resolution puts a memorable soft spin on that. Many of the songs feature Whitaker's acoustic guitar playing and piano work.

Whitaker, the vocalist-guitarist who writes much of the quartet's material, writes lyrics that aren't that far removed from high-school summers spent skateboarding in the park or playing Tony Hawk on a PlayStation.

That might sound naive, but Whitaker, whose influences include groups such as Dashboard Confessional and Blink-182, recreates the feeling of directionless optimism well, the idea that there always will be a next summer. His voice has an honest quality to it, but he has enough range and clarity to keep it varied.

The album careens from hope on the first song, "No Ones Holding You," to throwing in the towel in a piano duet with local singer Wendy Nichol.

Whitaker's band doesn't slouch either. Jarman's tuneful guitar playing at times sets himself apart from other players in his genre, but I wish he'd do more, especially on the song "Forevermore."

I'd like to see what this band grows into.

www.myspace.com/lyrband

-Matt Elliot (World Scene Writer) - Tulsa World 12/28/2006