http://www.monotremata.com/dead/issues/da58.html
DEAD ANGEL
ISSUE 58 (07/03)

Tinsel Life Review

All of a sudden it's okay to like pop again. I wondered how long it would take everybody to get tired of listening to whiny dudes in baggy pants slappin' away at guitars with too many strings on them and chunkin' badly everywhere. Now along with the rest of this so-called "retro rock revival" going on with the Strokes, White Stripes, Vines, blah blah blah, here comes Squint, with a new album full of short and pointy pop fuzztunes, all polished up by Ed Stasium and sounding like a modern Ramones with poppier chords and better singing.

The songs are all short, catchy, and to the point; my favorites are "Glimmer and Phrase," "Postergirl," and "A Glimpse of Why." The one drawback to this album is that the songs, while plenty rockin', don't have a lot of variety, and its consistently uptempo drive gets a tad relentless after a while. While the songs themselves are fine (if a bit samey), it wouldn't hurt at all for them to throw in a few curveballs next time around.

On the plus side, they're certainly consistent, and a sound like this almost guarantees a rockin' live show. There's nothing here you haven't already heard, but it's rare these days to hear it done this well, and at least they're smart enough to avoid trying to reinvent the wheel. Just because it's familiar doesn't stop it from rocking

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