Review
Guff
Engine Trouble

Go Kart (2003) Sean

Guff – Engine Trouble cover artwork
Guff – Engine Trouble — Go Kart, 2003

Sometimes I really wonder about people. I turn on the television and I see rape, murder, and complete apathy towards the billions of human beings living on 40 cents a day. It's time for a change, it's time for a revolution to make everyone on Earth stop in their tracks and think about things in a brand new way, so that maybe there is hope for this world yet.

Guff bring that revolution. Forging elements of pop and punk into an exciting new genre called "pop-punk". Their palm-muted guitars, overuse of pick slides, and melancholy lyrics filled with references to failed relationships and other trials and tribulations of being a misled youth are going to forever change the shape and sound of today's music. The boys in Guff spit in the face of interesting song structure, intelligence, and good songwriting, and instead cherish a new approach to music. This approach consists of lacking a strong pop sense, completely shattering the preconceptions that a good pop song and a smart pop sense go hand in hand. "Who needs a memorable catchy tune when you can write boring ones that sound a lot like 143,774 other bands?", asks the members of Guff. Song titles like "Scars are Tough Too" and "Yesterday Seems" you know you're in for an album packed with emotion, innovation, and truly amazing songwriting. "With a terrible, or as they like to say, "unconventional", vocalist and repetitive chord progressions, Guff are sure to leave their mark on every band to follow from this day on.

Oh I feel the tides a-changin', I feel the winds a-rearrangin'. I think this "pop-punk" thing is going to be huge.

3.0 / 10Sean • February 28, 2004

Guff – Engine Trouble cover artwork
Guff – Engine Trouble — Go Kart, 2003

Recently-posted album reviews

Six Going on Seven

Human Tears
Spartan Records (2026)

Late 90s post hardcore and emo feels impossible to recreate now. That’s not because the sound itself is gone, but because the tension behind it was so specific to that era. Six Going on Seven’s Human Tears, their first full length in roughly twenty-four years, captures that feeling perfectly. Having a wonderful history by having done a split with Hot … Read more

The Bug Club

Every Single Muscle
Sub Pop (2026)

  I got kind of obsessed with reviewing this record after I heard the first single “Watching The Omnibus” which they released digitally earlier this year. I could probably just write a whole thing about how hard it was to get an advance download of it for review, but I try to keep my reviews positive so I will steer clear … Read more

The Cascadian Divide

To the Sky
Independent (2026)

The Cascadian Divide is a Washington state based melodic skate punk band that formed during the infamous COVID lockdown. Although it started as an experiment, it soon became a passion project for the band members. The band has seen its share of line up changes over the years, but the commitment to maintaining the sound and integrity of the band … Read more