the pathetic caverns - music by artist - Excessories
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Excessories
Pure Pop for Punk People
(Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2001)
"Punk Rock Boy" belongs on a mix tape right after or before the Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl," but mostly this quartet of retro pop punkers is light on punk 'tude and lost somewhere between their most obvious influences: Melanie Coffee's straightforward teen love lyrics have little of the off-kilter charm of early Blondie ("I Wanna Call in Sick Today" probably comes closest), and her vocal lines (and chord changes) aren't as interesting as what Kim Shattuck does in the Muffs. It's catchy enough, convincingly played, and Steve Refling's production is lively. With twelve songs in twenty-five minutes, its pacing is near perfect, but it colors very much within the lines. And I can't quite forgive it for not living up to its clever title and stylish packaging.
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