Another
�old� punkrock-band releasing an album this year is Ghoti Hook. I think most
of the readers of this site still have vivid memories of their crazy humorous
albums 'Banana Man' and 'Sumo Surprise'. Both of these albums contain a combination
of stupid jokes, a lot of fun and clever catchy punkrock-songs. They did a
cover-album last year, 'Songs We Didn't Write', which was their worst
album so far, in my humble opinion, and since I liked the first two records, I
was kinda curious about their latest studio-effort. Rumors were saying that
these guys completely turned Rock, and that�s the truth. Forget about their
past, you should look at Ghoti Hook as a completely new band now. They make
pretty serious, emotional rock now, with some hints of Plankeye and
punk-pop-bands like Lit and Blink-182. The album has been produced by the guy
who did Blink-182�s �Enema Of The State�, Sean O�Dwyver, and maybe
that�s why they have such a clean, commercial sound on this album.
Anyhow,
after my first disappointment, I started to like this record very much, when
playing it over and over again. They offer some awesome songwriting and good
catchy sing-along refrains in songs like �All that I am� and the title-track
while they�re way more poppy and quiet in for example �Lullaby� (a
piano-ballad!). And they have one song that reminds me of their earlier albums,
�Chevy Nova� which is one of the highlights of the album. So, after all,
they have a lot more variety then on the other albums, and you can tell that
this band has grown through the years of intensively touring, a bunch of
albums� This album isn�t an instant-like, though, and it takes time to
listen to it. But I think that you�ll like this album when you take the time to get used to their new
style. The album as a whole is just awesome, though the
first 6 songs are best, compared to the last 6 songs. Advise: Buy & Try
!!
Karel
Smouter