Campaign – It Likes To Party

“I think I’ve hit rock bottom on a Monday Night/the neon’s swiping from side to side/but that’s okay and that’s alright” belts lead vocalist Josh Kimmel as Campaign’s latest EP, It Likes To Party, opens to the sound of a punk band embracing their city’s vice ridden nightlife.  At this point, the Atlanta quintet comes across as a strong, comforting emulation of Caution era Hot Water Music.  Kimmel’s deep, grainy bellow demands listeners halt their happenings and heed his weathered words of wisdom.  But before listeners can get too comfortable, two supporting vocalists chime in, skewing Campaign’s mechanics just enough to keep listeners on edge.

Welcome to the world of Campaign – a band existing in a place just familiar enough to comfort today’s aging punk rockers, but one also borrowing from enough sources to maintain a dynamic quality.  After that initial dose of Chuck Ragan-y grit, new vectors of influence make their way to the fore.  The most obvious of which comes from that slightly off tune school of post-punk pioneered by the likes of Small Brown Bike and Choke.  When the band hits their stride a track later in “Wouldworm,” they introduce parallel layers of melody and destruction.  Guitars grind and chords reverberate in a blanket of surprisingly peppy aggression.  Sure, you’ve probably heard something along these lines before; but while at this point Chuck Ragan sounds old and weathered, Choke called it quits, and Small Brown Bike recently reunited for what seems like the sake of nostalgia, Campaign sounds young, pumped, and poised to please the sweaty masses.

But not to be pigeonholed into a narrow niche, Campaign can also rock out with the best of them.  The best example, “Blue Pills And Whiskey” finds the quartet riding down a self-destructive path complete with razor sharp solos that find a home along a tale of drunken brawls and missed opportunity.  They take their regrets in strides, never letting the potential for dwelling consume the spotlight.

Some may say Campaign doesn’t take enough risks to stand out from the pack, but on the contrary, that’s not their mission.  They’re not here to reinvent, but to reinvigorate, and to that end it’s hard to find fault.  Sure, a few years down the line Kimmel and his crew will likely change things up and march to the beat of a new drum, but only after they’ve had their fun and exhausted their initial enthusiasm.  But based on It Likes To Party, that day is far from soon.