The Measure [SA] – Notes

Notes, the long-awaited new LP by New Jersey’s own The Measure (SA) is proof that this band just keeps getting better and better. If you’ve never heard of these folk-influenced pop punkers, now is the perfect time to investigate. They’ve spent the last few years playing in basements across the country, originally releasing their music only on
Vinyl (the “SA” in their name stands for “strictly analog”). But fear not,digital fans! Notes is now available on CD as well, and it’s all for the better; absolutely everybody who considers themselves a fan of contemporary punk needs to hear The Measure (SA).

This album, in typical fashion, is chock-full of introspective social commentary and cultural criticism. But for those already familiar with the band, a few differences from The Measure’s previous work will stick out immediately.

First, the production quality on Notes is far superior to that of earlier releases like Songs About People…And Fruit n’ Shit or the singles collection One Chapter in the Book. Unless you’re an honest to god purist, this won’t be an issue. The sound is simply cleaner, and nothing about the musicianship or musical delivery has changed.

A more noticable trend, however, is the tendency of Notes to be more
chorus and riff oriented than the short, fast tours de force that brought the band to subterranean prominence. It would be easy to complain that these new songs (all of which retain the band’s folk-punk and hardcore influences) are shameless attempts at writing underground hits. But that would be doing the band a disservice since the songs are so good it’s hard to quibble over whether or not they’re—gasp—going soft. And anyway, they haven’t abandoned their original ethos. Sure, the anthemic opener “Be Yours” may surprise a few listeners, but the short and sweet “Privilage” should be enough to appease long time fans.

Notes isn’t quite perfect. Lead singer, guitarist and primary song writer Lauren Measure has truly mastered the art of the abrupt pop punk song, and so she should know a few of these tracks could stand to be cut down to the standard punk length of a minute and a half. Regardless, with this ambitious new effort, The Measure (SA) are doing what every good band should do: picking up new fans, keeping old ones, and evolving every step of the way. Look for them at a house show near you.