The Track Record – Self Titled

Do you like to be bored? I know I don’t like to be bored. I can’t think of one person who actually goes out of there way to be bored simply because they enjoy the feeling. Most people rather go out of their way to avoid any and all contact with the dreaded feeling. Well, maybe I found four people who actually enjoy being bored, because if The Track Record don’t want to be bored, what were they thinking when they recorded their self-titled EP?

The second release from Drive Thru Records‘ sister label Rushmore Records starts to make you wonder if the label will be able to survive for long or not. If they keep releasing CDs like this one, I doubt they will. The five song EP from The Track Record is the type of record that is ruining the good name of pop-punk. All the songs sound exactly the same, molding into one another, making it nearly impossible to differentiate between the five. Now, that wouldn’t be so bad if they were good songs, but they aren’t. They take every over used pop-punk meldoy and merge them into one. Michael Strackbein’s vocals become annoying and whiny halfway through the first song, Plans To Wake Up On The Beach, and never get any better. They throw in random backup vocals and “nah-nah-nahs” in the background, just faintly enough so the listener to be able to hear that they are there, but not enough to impact the song in anyway.

All the songs are the generic pop-punk formula. From the high energy fast opening of Lettes To Summer immediatly followed by an “intense” breakdown, and repeated all before they shout “Let’s go!”. There’s nothing fun, entertaining or appealing about the release. After one listen, if you are able to survive that, you’ll most likely never playit again. Its the same sound you can get from countless other bands, but done much much worse.