The Putz - Clinically Inane

The Putz is a pop-punk band for people who love pop-punk. While that might sound like a statement of the obvious, you probably get what I'm driving it. The Putz isn't trying to re-invent a genre of music or mess with a successful formula. If you hate pop-punk, this is not a band that will turn you to the dark side. What the Indiana trio does do is carry the torch for the kind of pop-punk that I (and perhaps you) loved back in the '90s - when every new album from Screeching Weasel or The Queers was an event not to be missed. As far as I'm concerned, the best pop-punk never strays far from the Ramones' master blueprint. Of course that can be a double-edged sword. No one wants to listen to a straight-up copy of the Ramones. But if you can take that basic influence and put your own stamp on it, it's hard to go wrong. The Putz is one of those bands that totally gets what makes pop-punk great. Its new album Clinically Inane is out on Eccentric Pop Records - pretty much THE label for today's premiere pop-punk bands. And with Joe Queer producing the record, you know exactly what's coming!

Clinically Inane is The Putz's third LP and first since 2014. If you were expecting the band to sound older, wiser, and more musically evolved after all of this time, you don't know The Putz! The band is back with 14 more tracks of wonderfully stupid three-chord punk that you'll be itching to crank loud and sing along with. This record is just pure fun from start to finish. And with an average song length of less than 1 minute and 45 seconds, these guys sure aren't messing around! No, The Putz isn't offering you anything new here. But if you have a soft spot for textbook pop-punk executed to perfection, this is the record for you. Billy's vocals are the perfect mix of snotty and likable, while Dougie is one of those drummers who was seemingly born to play this kind of music. And with smooth vocal harmonies being such a crucial component of quality pop-punk, I appreciate that The Putz have those down pat. With material ranging from classic Ramonesy sing-alongs ("I Don't Wanna Go") to upbeat buzzsaw pop ("My Baby and Me") to blistering fuck-yous ("Blast Off!", "Glue Your Mouth Shut") to apocalyptic tales of love ("When The World Ends") to clever odes to dumbness ("My Missing Mind"), this album runs the gamut of the styles and themes that are essential to the pop-punk genre.

If I had heard Clinically Inane when I was 25, I would have run out into the street screaming for joy. The present-day version of myself is only slightly less stoked. This record stacks up quite well with the pop-punk albums I so dearly loved in my youth. While the quantity of bands playing old school pop-punk may have dwindled over the past couple of decades, the quality certainly has not. Good on Eccentric Pop for providing a home for the next generation of true believers!



-L.R.

https://theputz.bandcamp.com/album/clinically-inane 
https://www.facebook.com/theputzrock/ 
https://www.eccentricpop.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/EccentricPop/