Budnick – Self Titled

Josh Recker first appeared on my radar almost two years ago when I heard the self-titled debut from Salt Lake City’s The Hung Ups. There was something inexplicably enjoyable about the album that made it one of the highlights of the year. Raw, fast, snotty – it was straight forward pop-punk that was just a blast to listen to over and over again.

After another release, the band called it a day and Recker went on to form Budnick – another snotty, fast paced pop-punk band who just released their self-titled six song EP. Right away, you can hear the similarities to The Hung Ups. There’s still the same raw, bare bones attack and nasally vocals akin to Dude Ranch era Blink 182. Yet, Budnick remains distinctly different from its forbearer. For where The Hung Ups were faster and more abrasive, Budnick has slowed it down ever so much. Not nearly as frenetic, there’s a country twang now, a low-fi edge to it that puts the instrumentation in the background and a stronger focus on Recker’s voice.

This has it’s pros and cons as Recker does have a rather distinctive growl. A mix between Tom DeLonge and Ben Weasel with a dash of the guy from Teenage Bottlerocket, his voice is that signature pop-punk sound with some very off-key moments. Sometimes, however, you want the vocals to be pushed forward with stronger instrumentation backing – a better cohesive merger than what we have.

It’s not that anything on Budnick is really bad, or even passable; it just needs a little added kick to really make it fly. When they spice it up, like the toe-tapping Day Dreaming, Budnick stands out but those songs come too few and far between.

As I said, these six songs are –ultimately – rather enjoyable and most low-fi pop-punk fans will truly dig it. However, it’s not quite strong enough to hold your attention for longer than it takes to play through. So while it will always be enjoyable, it’s also rather forgettable and when I wanna hear Recker, I’ll still pull out my Hung Ups CD instead.