Review / 200 Words Or Less
Diarrhea Planet
Yama-Uba EP (Reissue)

Showing up a few years after the group’s 2009 debut Aloha, Diarrhea Planet’s 2011 three-track EP Yama-Uba is a more consistent release, with a sound that’s similar to that of 1990s pop-punk group The Queers. Infusing singalong vocal harmonies, intricate guitar work, and soaring solo lines into familiar, old-time rock song formulas, opening tracks “Hot Spit” and “Mutt-Feast” show that Diarrhea Planet (whose vocalist Jordan Smith positively seems to be emulating Dexter Holland here)are continuing with the type of sound made popular by The Offspring. The noisy but moderately-paced and pensive album closer “Yamanba” shows that the band isn’t strictly a one-trick pony only capable of making breakneck punk rock. 

If Aloha indicated the band’s seemingly endless reserves of energy, Yama-Uba focused that energy, resulting in a more polished overall effort. The 2014 reissues of both these two very brief early EPs may not capture Diarrhea Planet at the height of its power, but they do prove that the “buzz band” labeling of the group isn’t a fluke. Even if this music doesn't reinvent the wheel, it's hard to ignore the fact that it's extremely fun to listen to and genuinely invigorating.