Bankrupt – Rocket To Riot City

“I’d fuck Elvis.”
“Really?”
“Well, when he was alive. Not now.”

The opening sound byte from Bankrupt‘s Rocket To Riot City shocked me, made me laugh and got me excited for the CD. All of that happened within the first four seconds of the album; it wasn’t until halfway through the fourth second that the first guitar riff came in and boy did it sound good. Quick, energetic and made with three chords, Straight Outta Graceland proved to be the perfect pop-punk opener for the album; which, incidentally, is the perfect pop-punk album.

Throwing heavy nods to The Ramones and The Decendents, the pop-punk trio from Hungary are helping Red Scare recreate the pop-punk underground. With songs that clock in around the two minute mark – except for Memories of the Underground which lasts just over three, Bankrupt don’t hold anything back. They play, they sing, then they start another song; and while that definitely reminds me of The Ramones, the classic pop-punk icons aren’t the only similarities found on the five song EP . The crisp recording and snap of the drums would make any Broadway Calls fan’s mouth water while the vocals will make anyone who’s crying over the break-up of The Ergs smile once again. Cinderella, the sole love song of the EP, would fit right into Teenage Bottlerocket‘s Warning Device while Years of Disastersis a darker track that may not have the same jubilant nature but will still get you bopping your head and singing along.

The fact that you do keep singing along with every song makes the record standout. The songs, while never straying from their pop-punk formula, don’t meld into one another like some records do (take a listen to The Copyrights and The Sidekicks who, while are awesome, do merge together a bit). Instead, each songs stands out on for its own merits. So whether they’re attacking the RIAA for resurrecting Elvis or retelling crazy tour stories, Bankrupt never feels stale or repetitive.

At five songs and only ten minutes long, Rocket to Riot City leaves the listener wanting more. To satisfy that need all you need to so is quick repeat as there’s no way that the songs will become stale – even after half a dozen listens one after another. There’s something in the youthfulness, the energy and the jubilance that is undeniably catchy in the record and that’s what keeps you coming back.

It’s a pop-punk record that many will end up overlooking due to their location, but just like The Hex Dispensers or Useless ID, Bankrupt are well worth the extra effort to track down.