Poorsport

Poorsport is a high-energy pop-punk foursome playing their self-called “rain city punk" and rocking audiences despite the oversaturated music scene in Seattle. Their live show is fun and energetic, guaranteed to get you thrashing around and having a great time. Singer Kevin Mackey’s onstage antics are reminiscent of New Found Glory’s Jordan Pundik; in fact, my first impression of the band was a mix of NFG and The Bouncing Souls. Comprised of Mackey, guitarist Kyle Andrews, bassist Ben Dietzen and drummer Skeeter, the band exudes all the cheerful and anarchic exuberance you could want from a pop-punk band. Their latest release, No Hitter, is a self-produced home run (if you’ll pardon a horrible and completely intentional pun) with 21 tracks of pop punk, a few short hardcore tunes, and some random skits and crazy goof-off spoken tracks. The album begins and ends with a cover, but these are not your mama’s punk covers. They start with “Lonesome Me,” an old country tune, and end with the traditional folk song “Sweet Violets.” Both are tongue-in-cheek, but well done and as fun as any track on the album. One of the best songs on the album is “Lockdown,” a catchy and lively tune punctuated by a melodic chorus sung by Andrews. Another good track is “81,” which coins their phrase “rain city punk show.” Although the verses are about a girl, the chorus makes this the best song about a rock show since MxPx’s “Punk Rawk Show.” “Indy-Pen-Dunce” is another stand-out track, along with the strangely named “Byles Kooker,” a ska-flavored track with a catchy sing-along chorus and a sly reference to the band’s name. The album is sprinkled with short hardcore songs, like “I Love Everything,” the lyrics of which consist of “I love everything” repeated several times and ending with “except for Kevin’s crappy band!” These comedic breaks were fun and entertaining, though I admit that I found myself wishing I had a copy of the album without the spoken tracks, which include a mock broadcast of “The Big Daddy Nelson Show” on KGRG and an extended “hidden track” in which the band makes fun of Mackey for buying a mini-van and someone rants about people trying to define punk. They were cute the first time around, but for average listening I want non-stop rocking out.
- The Jibsheet