By Matt Farrell, June 2008

Get Better, Asian man records

This is the first true LP from Buffalo, NY’s punk pop indie band. It follows The First Collection, which includes a variety of EPs and split releases compiled into one. Although this was released a few months ago, discovering this record now is perfect as the summer rolls in and the windows start to crack.

Main vocalist Sheena Ozzella’s voice carries the pop melodies but is also strong enough to keep it from being swept into the vague and unnoticeable plethora of female vocalists. Alex Kerns also chimes in vocals at certain moments of the record, which compliments the music best when harmonizing with Ozella. The instrumentation is reminiscent of late Jawbreaker or early Weakerthans. I enjoyed the later tracks, not to say that the earlier ones were poor, but the album definitely builds steam.

A better example of context in which to present the movement of the album could be to start the album in the early summer morning when the ground is freckled with the light and sporadic rain and the overcast sky is looming and as the album progresses, the sky would clear and the vapors of the rain’s demise would cease and settle into a clear mild day that remains that way until it settles into the eve. Oh yeah, that with attitude and anger.