Bark Like a Dog by Screeching Weasel was the first punk rock album that I ever fell in love with, which means (in theory) that any album that reminds of Bark Like a Dog will serve me as a romantic rehashing of why I fell in love punk rock. This means that by the absurd logic I just put forth I should (in theory) love Warning Device. And I do, in theory.
While the first track on the new Teenage Bottlerocket album is a nice little piss and vinegar number, it's really just a throw away track compared to the rest of the album, something that would be better suited as an opener to a seven inch. "Down in the Basement" opens with a thick major chord progression underneath the super tired, ultra repetitive, but always-catchy single note melody line. These licks should be illegalized because they're more addicting than Aderrall and will get you twice as hopped up. The vocals, less snotty than Ben Weasel's, are still nasally, coming from the head rather than the stomach, working in a wonderful melody that doesn't stray far from the rhythm section. These are the type of tunes that make for more head bobbing and circle pitting than mosh pitting. Above that, they make it quite acceptable to dance like an elementary school age child with palsy.
The lyrics involve the common fare for the genre: boredom, girls, life as a social misfit, girls, hysteria of the super-natural, and girls. While they're certainly not Keats, they do bring to mind the work of the other laureates within the genre: Dr. Frank, Billy Joe Armstrong, and Joey Ramone. The latter of which brings us to an important note.
Because Teenage Bottlerocket is a band that sounds like Screeching Weasel, they are, essentially, a band that is trying to sound like the Ramones. This makes this style of music, one that really cannot be expanded upon, over thirty years old. Is the album good? Yes. Is it great? Yes? Is it legendary? No, that belongs to Ramones first album. But punk has never been about being legendary, so put on your leather jacket and Chucks and let's get "Totally Stupid."
