CD: Turn Of The Screw Artist: 1208 Label: Epitaph Records Rating: 4.5/5 Best Song: Smash The Badge Reviewer: Bobby Gorman

I'm a huge fan of the Epitaph Records family, many of their bands are some of my favorites that I listen to constantly. Lately they have been branching out, trying new bands and styles; emo like Matchbook Romance, electro-hardcore-punk like Error, rap/hip-hop like Atmosphere and so on. Sure, some of them have been quite pleasing and are fun to listen to, but at times you miss the old school vibe that Epitaph is known for. 1208 is here to bring that vibe back.

Starting off the album you hear a piano playing, pulling you into the song and getting you captivated; a slight surprise but very enjoyable nonetheless. Not to worry, the band soon launches into their CD opener My Loss and brings you back to what you want to hear. Melodic, catchy, punk rock played at a medium to fast paced tempo. Dropping the guitar, Alex Flynn, nephew of Black Flag cofounder Gregg Ginn, focuses solely on vocal duties on this album; making the instrumentals not quite as layered, but still doing the job nicely. Mr. Flynn's vocals are perfect for each song. Somewhat similar to Guttermouth's Mark Adkins, they are medium-paced, somewhat hoarse and quite catchy. The background vocals by guitarist Nashawn Hubbard and bassist Bryan Parks make the songs complete, coming at the exact right moments and adding a little extra punch to the songs.

Countless punk rock, sing along anthems can be found on this disc. Their single, Next Big Thing, is a classic example of that. Alex's lyrics about the music industry's sinister sign 'em then drop 'em ways grab your attention and with Bryan and Neshawn's "hey!"s in the background, you can't help but sing along with them. They do know how to slow it down a bit though. The second last track, The Saint, shows us just that. A much more melodic song that is slow and smooth; and also quite powerful.