Album Reviews
State Drugs’ latest album is one hell of a trip back to the 90’s. Lingering somewhere between Samiam’s brand of melodic punk rock, the Replacements and earlier Goo Goo Dolls with a hint of Dinosaur Jr, this Denver, Colorado based bunch also reach Counting Crows-like levels of sepia-colored melancholy on ‘Live. Laugh. Love.’. They don’t exactly hide their influences. Hell, they even cover Counting Crows’ ‘Rain King’ and there was a Jawbreaker cover on their last album if I’m not mistaken.
Expect nine songs worth of medium-paced punk rock with guitars that sway, swagger and jangle, driven forward by a more than competent rhythm section and beautifully captured by Chris Fogel at Black in Bluhm. Maybe Chris Kuhn’s vocals aren’t for everyone, but they work just fine for me. Even though I still can’t decide if I’d describe them as careful, delicate, understated or all of the above. They blend in just right with the music though, especially on cuts like opener ‘Beautiful Broke’, ‘Goonies’ and ‘Reason Reason’.
Track listing:
- Beautiful & Broke
- Good Enough
- Goonies
- Offsides Forever
- Threat Level Midnight
- County Culture
- Reason Season
- A Little, A Lot
- Rain King
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
