pre-scriptum : I’m trying here to mimic Blacklisted Igor’s particular reviewing style.

Some people give contraceptive pills to their pets. Some people like Destiny’s Child. Some people let a tenth-rate sound engineer mix their songs and do not even bother to go to the studio. Some people whose favourite band is Chokebore buy Sum 41 albums and are not even ashamed. Some people go through a serious Guns’n’roses revival and listen to Sum 41 all day claiming that it’s heavy music. Some people wanted to eat midnight kebabs to celebrate the new-year. Some people hang out in Peru (or Bolivia) and dare call themselves Rebels. Some people get psychotic and make a list entitled ‘top-50 albums of 2002’. Some people will Interpol-od and end up doing Joy Division rehab. Some people would like to wear Joan Jett buttons. Some people would like to be brave enough to dare speak to girls. Some people try to quit smoking but won’t manage to. Some people got red cards and missed the next round ; they say they will make love to their girlfriend instead but they might as well puke on her. Some people will be back in USSR soon. Some people establish rules to organize a manly pun championship. Some people need to have rules as if life was a bowling game. Some people study to get a ‘nothingless phd’. Some people need you to send them ID photographs of strangers to make a random Amélie Poulain wallpaper (send them to us and we’ll give them). Some people fuck 40 years-old married women after tenth-rate free-jazz gigs. Some people don’t want to spend the new-year’s eve with us. Some people live in College Station, Texas and play drums in a reggae band but they can not smoke weed because they might end in an Oz-like prison. Some people allegedly direct movies, meet Spielberg and write for L’Equipe (French daily sport newspaper). Some people have been really affected by Schinder’s List and Dance With The Wolves. Some people listen to unknown bands, amongst which is Ten Foot Pole. I regard the latter attitude as not guilty and I let you judge the other statements.

Review:

Ten Foot Pole plays a particular melodic-punk with a great sense of melody. They’ve shifted from Epitaph to Victory to release their fourth album. I have to admit that Ten Foot Pole is my second favourite 90’s melodic-punk band (aka skate-core, aka melodic-hardcore, aka ‘punk-à-roulettes' – in France). My 90’s melodic-punk top 5 being: 1) Bad Religion (before 1996) 2) Ten Foot Pole 3) Pennywise (from About Time to their black album) 4) Tilt (first two albums) 5) Nofx, MrTxp & Lagwagon.

Ten Foot Pole’s singer has still a fine voice but most of the songs sound like Insider b-sides (Insider being their previous album). The previous albums by Ten Foot Pole were filled with should-be hits (eg ‘Daddy’, ‘Damage”, “Too late” and ‘It’s not me’ on Unleashed, ‘My wall’ on Rev, ‘Late at Night’ on Insider). On this new release only ‘giving gravity a hand” is really appealing. ‘Armchair quaterback’, ‘Plastic’ and ‘Happy daze’ are simple straightforward songs which quickly get to the point but they definitely sound like alternate versions of prior numbers. Some songs are more indie than what the band used to do as if they wanted to be the next Sum 41 (‘Nova Scotia’, ‘I wanna be alone’ and its cliché ending à la Beach Boys) “One hero” chorus reminds me of ‘one man, one vision’ (Queen). “Shelter” sounds bad (it seems that the singer is different). I hope that the last song ‘Riptide’ deals with the forgotten tv program.

-SEB WOOd

/jan 15th 2002/