Review
Thirteen tracks, and the running order does most of the steering. The title track goes first, and its steady rhythm section and trading guitar lines set a working pace before the record opens into a run of hook-heavy numbers. Several of the earlier singles sit close together, so the first half reads as a showcase of the band's range: skate-punk drive, post-punk edges in the guitars, and a bass that often leads the turns. A looser, surf-tinged indie cut breaks up the middle, though its bright melody sits over lyrics that sour quickly.
The album's temperament holds steady across its length. Its early-nineties leanings surface in places, and the band avoids pastiche, but the material rarely escalates into a single peak. The tense, confrontational "chainwhip" arrives in the back half and gives the sequence its sharpest edge. The record then closes on "fall like dominos" and "bail out!", titles that suggest momentum tipping over rather than settling into a resolution. The result is cohesive and consistently lively, though few individual songs pull you back for a second pass.
