West On 18

Ah, those young kids and their music. Will there ever be a time when genres like pop-punk and emo are looked on by the critical music demagogues as being layered and varied and having the complexity generally thought to be needed for genre growth? That is up for debate; after all, the question centers around the perception of the music, as opposed to the music itself. It can certainly be said that some bands have unique sounds within the constraints of these "stereo"-types (sorry, bad pun--couldn't resist!), and West on 18 is one such band. Their debut LP, Vented Frustrations, is, in its way, a slight re-working of prototypical pop-punk. While being extremely listenable as the work of a "pop-punk/emo"-style band, the harmonies have more of a depth and the timing is a little different--both speaking to a unique vision of the genre and a forward-thinking attitude about the directions in which it can be manipulated, but the element that truly sets this band apart from its peers is its guitars. Lead guitarist Scott Reed was clearly raised on healthy amounts of Slash and George Thorogood, nods to both of which punctuate nearly every song. The heavy riff-age and blistering solo parts give the songs a visceral immediacy that made the genre so compelling in the first place, when you couldn't swing a Dickies jacket without hitting a Blink 182 fan. Heavily recommended for summer driving--and/or check them out live at a Seattle-area venue!


- Tyrannosaurus Records