The Cheats – Pussyfootin

Sometimes a band can feel “off” without presenting any major missteps.  They’re in a preferred genre and their style aligns with your partiality, but the very sound of their voice grates away at you, word-by-word, note-by-note, song after song.  I hate to rag on a perfectly acceptable piece of punk rock, but right from the introduction The Cheats have become that band to me…  Their newest full length, Pussyfootin, might have all the markings of good ole punk rock romp (think early Authority Zero), but something about it makes me want to skip every single track.

Right from the start, the disc feels forced – like trying to shove a rectangular pillar through a circular pegboard.  Like listening to belligerent hardcore that can’t seem to get over just how hardcore they are, The Cheats can’t seem to get over how hard they think they rock.  Just take “White Knuckle Ride” and the clear desire of each band member to be the hardest rock n’ roll big shot in the room.  “Drive fast, die young, turn this city upside down… prepare for the ride of your life” belts front man Todd Cheat before the band powers into a classic rock solo clearly lifted from Motorhead.  Every word just lands so nauseatingly shallow and superficial, existing for little purpose beyond offering fan service to Guns n’ Roses.  The bulk of the track list stumbles in similar ways, but “Sin For A Living,” “Life’s Short” and “Star Tattoo” make the short list of tracks to avoid.

The album’s clearest potential hides mid-album with the song “Sober Days, Wasted Nights.”  While the message remains inconsequential, the band turns up the tempo and lets down their guard – sounding as if they’re actually having fun rather than trying to be something they are not.  With all five members chiming in during the chorus, adding their own uniquely sloppy footprint, The Cheats share a lost chemistry the other songs only hint at.

Without a personality differentiating them from other bare-bones punk rock outfits, Pussyfootin plays out without a defining moment.  Most disappointing, the disc gives the impression that the quintet just isn’t applying themselves.  The Cheats are capable enough musicians, but Pussyfootin doesn’t do them a lick of justice.