Search - Smoke Or Fire :: This Sinking Ship

A Better Effort Than "Above The City"

G. Andersson | New York, USA | 05/08/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Is it catchy? Yeah. But why is that a bad thing? I read far too many reviews that say, "It's too clean...it's too catchy." Look, I love classic punk rock, there are some classicly written songs out there. But I'm not going to lie: I hate sh--ty recordings. All I do when I listen to Black Flag and old Misfits records is think, "If this were recorded today, it would be that much better." And why wouldn't you want a song to be catchy? Do you want to forget an album the second you're done listening to it? Is music meant to be analyzed to death or listened to and enjoyed?



I can't deny that Fat Wreck was putting out some bad releases (Randy, The Soviettes, No Use for a Name), but Smoke or Fire, along with Dead to Me and The Loved Ones, are beginning to put my faith back in the label.



"This Sinking Ship" is not a masterpiece, but it's a pretty damn good album. Check out the free MP3s for "The Patty Hearst Syndrome" and "Melatonin" on fatwreck.com and if you like those, you'll like this album."