The Gateway District – Some Days You Get The Thunder

Have you ever listened to a CD and it immediately reminds you of someone but you can’t remember who? It becomes an obsession, where you want to pinpoint exactly who it reminds you off – it’s like that time you couldn’t remember that actor’s name but swore it was at the tip of your tongue. That’s the feeling I got when I heard The Gateway District‘s debut album, Some Days You Get The Thunder. It immediately reminded me of someone that I really liked; however, after listening to the record over two dozen times I still can’t pinpoint who it is that they remind me off so much and that is extremely annoying. Luckily though, that annoyance is softened a bit by the fact that Some Days You Get The Thunder is pretty damn good, even if I can’t remember who it reminds me off.

That’s not saying that it’s impossible to make any comparisons. One glance at the bios of the members and you can’t spew out a few comparisons right away. With members from The Soviettes, Off With Their Heads, Banner Pilot and Dear Landlord, you can easily say that The Gateway District carries with them a bit of that signature Minneapolis punk rock sound. Some tracks – the title track and Odd Pauses for example – are bass heavy, like OWTH or even Dillinger Four while other tracks are straight forward punk rock with inklings of Jawbreaker in there; all in all, it makes for one hell of a good ride.

But that’s only looking at the instrumental backdrop of the song, when it’s the vocals that make the record simultaneously so unique and so familiar. The two female vocals change lead duties from track to track as the sing songs of love, adventures and regrets. With a tinge of melancholy to the lyrics, they sound like sadder version of the Measure [SA], Bambix or Nothington when Agent M of Tsunami Bombmakes a guest appearance.

In reality, the only downside is when they switch it up and add a country twang to the tracks like the intro to Highway Song, Falling Down and Leaving Town and Run To Me, all of which disrupt the flow of the album a bit. But other than those few mishaps, Some Days You Get The Thunder is just a straight forward, bass-heavy pop-punk record with deep, catchy and perfect female vocals that aren’t polished or poppy like we see so often these days. As you listen to it, you’ll probably be reminded of someone but hell if I could pinpoint exactly who it is. So instead just shove the thought to the side and enjoy the record for what it is and that is a damn fun thirty minutes of pop-punk goodness.