everready
"A Not So Sunny Day In Dodge City" 7" (Campground)
This San Diego-based pop-punk trio sounds more like Jawbreaker with each new release. This 7" features two originals and an uptempo cover of John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane." The production is okay and the songs don't sound too bad, but they're nothing to write home about.
"Fairplay" CD (Liquid Meat)
Uh ... not that I'm a stickler for detail or anything, but Screeching Weasel covered "I Can See Clearly Now." Johnny Nash originally did it, but that was so long ago that most people have probably forgotten. Okay, on to the review. Everready reissued some of their old material and it's punk. Not just a little punk, mind you, but way punk. Like gob-in-yer-face, twelve-inch-liberty-spikes, punk fucking rock. None of the song titles have punk in them, but what if they did? You could have "Punk Song" or "Vietnam Punk," "5 Punks in my Mind," "Will the Punks Ever Change" or "Will the World Ever Punk," and "Punk Sex" or "Phone Punk." Just a thought. I mean, they might want to emphasize their punkness a bit more, just so people don't overlook it. Oh yeah, it's fun too.
"All Time Low" 7" EP (Mighty Idy)
As much as I hate to say it, this just doesn't grab me as much as everready's other stuff does. It's fun and it's punk, but it just isn't as melodic as some of the band's other releases.
"El Vato Loco!" CD (Cool Guy)
Henry Thoreau once suggested a reductive course of action - to paraphrase, simplify. Well, it doesn't get much more simple than this catchy punk. There may be an extra chord or two here (totally showy, all you need is three for punk), but it was probably an oversight on Brian Ready's part. However, beyond noting the melodies and cool song titles (witness "Punks Are As Bad As Motherfucking Nazis"), there isn't much to say about this record. It's just way fucking cool.