Friday, August 28, 2026

TA-80 - 25


After releasing three albums in four years, Arizona's mega-awesome pop-punk rock 'n' roll power quintet TA-80 came into 2026 with a clear plan: play a bunch of shows, record a bunch of singles and EPs, and start writing the best album of 2027. Why stop when you're on a roll? 

This is a particularly significant year for the band since it marks the 25th anniversary of its formation. To celebrate its 26th year as a band (yeah, that's how the math works), TA-80 has dusted off four songs from its early years and re-recorded them for 25, a brand-new EP that is out now on Allegedly Records. You can find TA-80's digital catalog online tracing back to 2010. But there's also an early catalog of titles you can only hear if you own the original CD-Rs, cassettes, compilation albums, reel-to-reel tapes, VHS videos, floppy discs, voice mails, etc. The band would be the first to tell you that they hadn't fully found their sound when they wrote and recorded a lot of that stuff. But for this release, the band chose four songs from its early 2000s period that it found worthy of revisiting and re-recording. So they dug out their iPods, guzzled lots of SoBe Lizard Fuel, frosted their tips, and transported themselves back in time. Exactly 26 copies of a CD release were pressed — one representing each year that this planet has had the pleasure of existing with TA-80 in it. Each copy is unique and comes with caringly hand-drawn art representing a particular year in the storied life of TA-80. If you didn't know these were old songs, you might think it was just a cool new EP from one of your favorite bands. These tracks are legit good, and certainly they benefit from the "We know now what we didn't know then" perspective that the band brought to this project.   

"Radio Beehive" (which originally appeared on TA-80s's 2001 album '80-'83) pulls no punches. It's almost straight-up '80s metal. Check that: it is straight-up '80s metal, and it totally kicks ass. It's fun, loud, and sure to rock your face off. These folks always knows how to get the party started, and here they do just that! You think I won't have the intestinal fortitude to choose this track for embedding? Try me! "No Call No Show," originally a 2005 demo for the band's mid-2000s lost album, 40 oz. Rose, takes the EP in a very different direction. It has more of a laidback, fuzzed-out '90s alternative rock/power pop vibe to it, and it shows that TA-80 can do pure pop with the best of 'em. "Super Slob," from the 2003 album TA-80 Are Go!, is vintage 2000s-style pop-punk that's catchy as hell but still packs a punch. "This City Night," also written for the ill-fated 40 oz. Rose, closes things out with anthemic rock energy. TA-80 might not play stadiums, but it sure makes music that could fill them. I love that this release embraces the band's past yet aligns wonderfully with its present vibe. And it's neat to hear four different members of TA-80 on lead vocals (Russ sings "Super Slob," and Jens duets with Amy on "This City Night"). Bandcamp and CD versions come with bonus tracks culled from a couple of split singles the band has done recently with The Femurs and Rob Moss and Skintight Skin (more on that one in a couple days!). 

When I say a release is limited, that usually means 100 copies. But with only 26 copies of 25 made and a few already spoken for, you best not dilly-dally if you want to get your hands on that sweet polycarbonate plastic! Tonight I will drink to the first 25 years of TA-80 and hope I'm still around to review 50 when it comes out. By then, we'll be nostalgic for the good old days before the robots fully took over! 

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