The So So Glos‘ latest full-length album, Blowout (out now on the band’s own label), starts out with a home recording of a boy about seven or eight saying, “Do you think he has a gun? Yes, he shot himself! Well, we’re listening to Nirvana, and as you know Kurt Cobain, POW,” before the Bay Ridge–bred punks fly into opener “Son of an American.”
Singer Alex Levine roars through with a perfect blend of slightly nasal sneering and staggering raspiness, and keeps going for 12 more tracks (clocking in under 45 minutes). Guitarists Ryan Levine (Alex’s brother) and Matt Elkin and drummer Zach Staggers (the Levines’ childhood friend and stepbrother) round out the sound.
This is an album for channeling your inner preteen–the one who feels compelled to tell fart jokes at MoMA and sneak whiskey into the ballet. None of us really wants to grow up, and thank God the So So Glos are here to remind us of that. Packed with searing guitars and anthemic choruses, the experience is classic and fresh, fun and furious.
The title track feels like pumped-up Operation Ivy. In fact, the whole thing could be a slicker version of any number of early Lookout! releases with an infectious jangle attached to each song. It all ends with “Dizzy,” a sloppy, silly sendoff from one of the most fun music experiences I’ve had in a while.
The So So Glos are touring this spring throughout the U.S. and Canada. Click here for dates!
