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Hello Sorry State readers! Hope all is well with everyone. Things are pretty chill on my end.
This week I had fun randomly pulling new (to me) releases from the shelves and taking them for a spin. I also mixed things up by throwing on a blast from the past, after reminiscing with Jeff about a timeless banger. Rancid’s And Out Come the Wolves. I played it while doing my thing at our fulfillment center, and Jeff had it playing at the store at the same time. A fine tribute party it was.
I bet you think this is my segue into writing about Rancid for my staff pick. It’s not. My pick is the Anxious Pleasers S/T EP. But cool story anyway, right?
Dude, what is wrong with me? I’ve had this banger of a record at my disposal for like two months, and I should’ve jumped on it. Particularly being that it’s a Neon Taste release, and they put out some killer shit. And Anxious Pleasers is some killer shit. The Canadian trio is comprised of singer/guitarist, TJ Charlton (TV Freaks), drummer Nathan Burger (TV Freaks, Flesh Rag), and bassist Matt Ellis (Flesh Rag, Plasticheads, and The Vapids).
This 7-track EP clocks in around 18 minutes, which feels right. I don’t think any track overstayed its welcome. Pure entertainment. It’s fast as hell and it doesn’t let up. Not once. No time to catch your breath. No water breaks. Such great energy. I wish I could infuse this type of energy into my body through an IV drip.
I’m super impressed by the power the band exerts as a three-piece. Here I go again with the C-word but this is catchy as hell punk rock with some major riffage. So much so that I pictured TJ’s guitar just catching on fire after the last minute of the song Too Real. My personal favorite is the song Duh! It’s one of those songs you play like five times in a row. This is one of the more garage-infused songs, but it’s a subtle infusion. In fact, no particular style of punk or rock in general immediately comes to mind when I listen to this record. That’s especially true on Duh! It has a great chorus, it’s really well-structured, and so fun to listen to.
Anxious Pleasers totally delivered, and at no point did I lose interest, even for a minute. Aside from Duh!, my other favorite track is What Do You Care About. Both tracks are very sonically strong and the catchiest on the record, but there are no let-downs in the bunch.
As you can tell, I’m pretty stoked on this EP. It’s been on my radar since we got it, and I’m glad I finally took it for a spin. Give it a listen below and see what you think.
Thanks for reading! See ya next week!
Angela
https://neontasterecords.bandcamp.com/album/anxious-pleasers