Backsliders
(self-released)
This Texas quartet has a punk-tinged power-pop sound made for live performance. Listening to their new You're Welcome you can imagine yourself pogoing (do people still pogo?) to the incisive, propulsive beat as the tight, fast original songs build to punchy, celebratory choruses with buzzy, chiming guitar. And yet - maybe because there are so many bands like this - it doesn't make a strong impact on record. You like each song as you hear it - "Typically I Don't Mind," "I Got Mine" are prime examples - and then start to quickly forget.
Backsliders are an egalitarian group, no showboats, which works against them on record. Singer Kim Pendleton has an average voice that moves the songs along well, but isn't especially dynamic on its own. Her husband Chris Bonner is a focused, intense guitarist, yet the album's production - by Jeff Halbert with Bonner and Pendleton - tends to keep him mid-range and undercuts his expressiveness. Drummer Taylor Young, however, keeps the drums upfront and exciting, especially on the Knack-like "Fat Girls," the album's best cut. This may sound heretical, but bands like this need more ballads on their records. A slow-burning one called "Pass On All Your Fears," that allows a bit of hoarse vulnerability in Pendleton's voice to come to the forefront, is an example of how the Backsliders would be better if they varied things on record.
Standout Tracks: "Fat Girls," "Pass On All Your Fears" STEVEN ROSEN
