I received a request to review Teenage Bottlerocket's new album, so I thought, "Why not check it out?" I have not really kept up with this band's output over the past decade, and now I'm suspecting that I've been seriously missing out. Shame on me! Ready To Roll (out on Pirates Press Records) is the band's 10th album. How much could a pop-punk band have left to give us after ten albums? In the case of Teenage Bottlerocket, the answer is quite a lot! Ready To Roll is one of the best pop-punk albums I've heard in recent years. Listening to this record, you can tell how much fun the band had while making it. The energy and enthusiasm are palpable. And fortunately, that translates into an album that's super-fun to listen to as well. These guys really brought some great tunes to the table. And even though this is a Teenage Bottlerocket album through and through, it also finds the band trying some new things.
"She's the Shit" is an A+ pop-punk song. 24-year-old me would have loved it, and 54-year-old me digs it just as much. Plus I relate to it on a personal level. "Post Mortem Depression" finds Kody Templeman stirring up some early Lillingtons style magic, and I couldn't be happier. Songs like "I Want To Die on My Birthday," "All About It," and "Home To You" will satisfy anyone (like me) who can never get enough of '90s-style pop-punk. Elsewhere, the band dishes out a party rock anthem with "Ready To Roll," pushes it fast and furiously on the punk ripper "High-Speed Yoga," delivers horror punk thrills on "Giant Bug from Planet Q13," and brings to mind the heyday of The Cure and Psychedelic Furs on the new wave inspired tracks "True To You" and "I Figured Out That I'm Stupid." I'm also a huge fan of the Miguel Chen–penned "Taquero," which is sing-along old school punk done to perfection. "Afraid of the Dark" closes the album in truly anthemic fashion, and them I'm ready to listen to the whole thing all over again!
Teenage Bottlerocket has been in the game for a quarter century now, yet Ready To Roll sounds like the work of a band that has never felt more excited and inspired to make music. These guys have pumped new life into a tried-and-true style of music. This album doesn't abandon the band's core approach, but it expands it in ways that totally make sense. And from start to finish, these songs are freaking awesome (both musically and lyrically). Somehow TBR has come through with an album that's on the poppier side of pop-punk yet still rocks your face off. That, my friends, is the secret sauce. Great recommendation, Mark!
https://teenagebottlerocket.bandcamp.com/album/ready-to-roll
https://open.spotify.com/album/3YsqEMjl5R4tYQIltDdhot
https://teenagebottlerocket.com/
https://www.instagram.com/teenagebottlerocket/
https://www.facebook.com/teenagebottlerocketofficial
https://shop.piratespressrecords.com/collections/ppr421?srsltid=AfmBOoqKtYRDh5-bNpRBuImkyldEN7TPYt_nf0lvvjscsMwZNWGp0Ixc
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