The Methadones "21st Century Power Pop Riot" (Red Scare)
By Pete Mittler
Tuesday. Jun 06, 12:03 AM
My turn to stand naked in front of the mirror.

Imagine my surprise when Tim told me that he got The Methadones' new album in the mail and that he wanted me to review it! For those who don't know, this is the band that I play in. "Of course I do!" I said. I always thought it was funny how people who review music play in bands. I always thought "their band better be fucking amazing for all the judgement that they give!" So now it's my turn to stand naked in front of the mirror with a whole audience looking on. So here goes!

This is the fourth full-length from The Methadones, a pop punk / power pop band from Chicago, IL. We currently take most of our influences from late '70s / early '80s power pop and punk, so it only felt natural for us to do a tribute album to some of our favorite bands / songs. The thing that everyone tells us most is that, if you didn't already know, you would just think that these are our own songs. We take that as a huge compliment! The idea came about two or three years ago while working on our third record. There are 12 songs on here by mostly (but not entirely) obscure bands, including Crash Street Kids' "Into You," Gary Glitter's "Leader of the Gang," The Jags' "Back of My Hand," Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore," and eight others that have been pretty much forgotten by time. The standout for me, though, is the cover of Scandal's "Goodbye to You" with Annie from The Soviettes singing. This girl drove six hours in the dead of winter to sing no more than 30 minutes! What a voice she has! Unbelievable. It will send chills down your spine.

I firmly believe that we did justice to all of these songs... maybe even gave a few of them the kick in the ass that I felt the originals lacked due to the limited recording resources that they had access to back in the day. Hopefully we will also turn some of our younger fans on to some kick ass older bands and help them realize that pop punk / power pop didn't begin with Green Day.

This album was recorded over two very cold weeks and mixed over two more in Chicago at Atlas Studios with Matt Allison (Alkaline Trio, Rise Against, The Lawrence Arms), assisted by Neil Hennessey (of The Lawrence Arms). I think it's a great sounding record: easily the best sounding disc that we've recorded in such a laid back atmosphere. We wanted this to sound like a party on CD, and I think it does. Matt was easy and pleasant to work with and has a great ear. It also helped that he is a big fan of all of the songs and bands on here. I think even the oldest, most jaded fan of power pop and punk will give a nod of approval. And if not, maybe it will make a cool looking, pink drink coaster with Dan's face on it!
www.methadones.com
www.redscare.net

Listen to a song from this album in our Radio section!

Pete Mittler

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