Album Reviews
- by Tom Dumarey
Ready to start off the new decade with some fine melodic pop-punk? Well, then you should probably do yourself a favor and check out Oakland, CA’s Grumpster. This trio comprised of Falyn Walsh (bass and vocals), Lalo Gonzalez Deetz (guitar) and Noel Agtane (drums) has been around since 2015, came up through the 924 Gilman scene and recently released their debut full-length on Asian Man Records.
‘Underwhelmed’ comes with ten songs worth of nearly flawless pop-punk played with plenty of hunger and a no nonsense attitude and they are as high on energy as they are melodic. Taking cues from early Green Day, Alkaline Trio, Jawbreaker and The Muffs, songs like the title track, ‘Crumbling’ and ‘Tunnel Vision’ sound instantly familiar and catchy as hell with Shaw taking on subjects like anxiety, depression and feeling let down by others. Or as we like to call it, just another Monday.
Track listing:
- Underwhelmed
- Party’s Over
- Lust
- Crumbling
- Ruins
- Roots
- Tunnel Vision
- Put Me to Sleep
- Nausea
- Bad Seed
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.
