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Bullet Magazine (B):
Bruges based Eye Spy records score another direct
hit with Skool's Out splendid debut album. This Temse
punkrock quartet plays damn catchy, driving, poppy
punkrock tunes. These guys used to play as a 3-piece,
with drummer Hans also taking care of the vocal parts.
Espacially live they suffered from this rather static
line-up. Taking Kurt (ex-Unsure, ex-Thumbs Down) on
drums, enabled Hans to concentrate on singing only
and this soon appaered to have been a masterly move.
The more I listen to thisn the better I think this
12-song disc is. Fans of Face to Face and Bad Astronaut
will simply dig this! And check the front cover with
guitarman Raf speeding through it. Hilarious!
Inside Knowledge (NL):
"After Hours" is one of the friendliest
records to come out of Belgium this year. Fast melodic
punkrock with a damn nast hook, or says the info.
In general it made me think of Down By Law, but a
bit more on the pop side. They rock, and nothing more
to say about that. All in all the cd could use some
more variation, and changes in tempo, and they should
use a bit more the "Iron Maiden" like guitar
work a bit more, that's something new in the punkrock
scene.
Fracture (UK): First
off, this album is one of my favorite releases of
2002... maybe it caught me at the right time (which
was a "wrong" time is such, on a personal
level), but maybe just because it's one helluva an
album. Killer pop hooks with a hardcore edge, great
vocals and, if you can imagine, Chad Price from All
or the guy from Armchair Martian fronting a more pop
oriented Lagwagon... well you'd get a pretty good
idea of what this band sounds like. It's rockin' stuff,
plenty of ringing guitars and instantly appreciated
hooks, thoughtfull and highly proficient songwriting
skills. The lyrics are very strong, going along the
boy meets girl loses girl wants other girl immediatly
train of thought. But this isn't soppy or sickly-sweet,
it's heartwarming and heartbreaking. Everyone in the
band compliments one another and they've rally have
their shit together to pull off such a great album,
that's for sure. Their version of Prince "Never
take the place of your man" equals that of the
Goo Goo Dolls. Yes, this is a keeper. Just good to
hear something that sounds so fresh and dynamic for
a cange, the guitars are blazing on this. Recommended
for sure.
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