The Riot Before – 2005-2007

Among Brett Adams’ many ongoing projects is The Riot Before, a band on a more or less continuous tour that provides punk both for his albums and for his well-known Food + Gasoline food blog. Like that project, 2005-2007 is an eclectic collection of simple recipes, most at least modestly successful, some positively delicious.

Each track feels written in a different place, the net result an album that has broad range and depth, as well as redundancy and incomplete ideas. The strong opening tracks, “You Rock, Rock” and “The Cheapest Cigarettes” have cool things to say about music that get worn through repetition through the rest of the album. The political commentary on tracks like “Redneckties” feels somewhat trod-on by now, though “In Perspective” pulls of a truly innovative sound with its martial drum work.

The minimal intrusion from the production process ends up working in the album’s favor, and its raw feel enhances its generally simple structure. It’s a courageous thing to go with a relentlessly straightforward album title like 2005-2007, one that plainly announces “we did these awhile ago,” and while that dampens the political messages it strengthens the verve underlying each chord. Relentless in its direct focus on a handful of themes, there’s no doubting The Riot Before put on a hell of a show, and it’s clear from their presentation that is where they live.

Some of these choices are surely locked in by Adams’ somewhat limited range as a singer. Though he imbues every moment with definite energy the band has trouble pulling off the more dramatic and introspective tracks, which call for a patience that doesn’t quite materialize. As such “Bonus Song” ends up merely aptly-named, and tracks like “Lather, Rinse, Repeat” fall by the wayside. Three years’ isn’t a terribly long time for an album to come together, but the variance within 2005-2007 speaks to a long maturation within the band in the course of its completion.

One of Adams’ favorite dishes looks to be the burrito, a dish which in its most basic form is uncomplicated, contains elements of the most important food groups (“meat” and “grilled”) and quick to prepare. On that simple foundation there’s a lot of room for variation. 2005-2007 makes little use of the possibilities, sticking to a useful formula with a clear, stated purpose from which it rarely dares to ventures, and suffers upon so doing. What they do serve up, however, is savory indeed.