Nerdlinger – Happy Place

Sydney, Australia skate-punks Nerdlinger have been offering up their take on modern melodic 90’s skate-punk for a number of years across a scattered discography of EPs and singles.  The band’s latest effort, Happy Place, is a tight LP that captures the frenetic energy and witty humour framing the band’s motto,”do what you wanna do.”  Fans of fast, don’t-take-life-too-seriously punk in the vein of Less Than Jake and various pop-punk legends will be served well by Happy Place’s zest for life.

Opener “30 Seconds of Satisfaction” teases listeners with a quick intro that merely runs the length of the title, before rushing into the next four minute and fast paced skate-punk tune, “Contagious.”  Born of simple pop-punk chords propelled by the unrelenting fervor of drummer Michael Cannings, the track bursts into a stride that sees them keeping pace with the type of melody that once laid the foundation for early No Use For A Name.  For “Can Yu Forgive Me” the band plays around with tempo and vocal style, with front man Scotty McNaim deepening his vocal presence during less frantic moments.  This reduction foreshadows the slow lead-in that opens “The Ballad of Rod Lightening,” which draws stylistic parallels with mid to late career Lagwagon.  Other tracks, like “Underrated,” switch back and forth between melodic speed with accompanying “woah-oah” vocals and simple pop-punk riffs layered over a bassy guitar groove.  The band isn’t afraid to infuse some passing brass in the former, or explore ambitious guitar solos in “Miyajima Cockroaches.” They even get all sensitive in the first half of “Fat Gav,” with percussion-less, pseudo-acoustic guitar and distant violin strokes.

Lyrically, the band gets particularly creative as the album winds down.  Take for instance, “Song of the Damned” and “Milk,” with the former proclaiming “I demand a rewrite of my life” against a backdrop of swanky horn blasts, and the latter rambling on about the joys of frothy dairy consumption.  Happy Place isn’t a lyrical powerhouse by any means, but it gets the job done in delivering fourteen tracks of light hearted, snarky pop-punk for the young at heart.  Just don’t expect any grand revelations.

Nerdlinger is a member of the Pee Records family, and Happy Place feels right at home on the Australian party-hearty punk label.  On a roster with the likes of The Decline, Local Resident Failure and Hack The Mainframe feels entirely natural, and should make for some killer touring possibilities.  Fans of skate and melodic punk stand to easily enjoy Nerdlinger’s simple vision and energetic style.