Straight Outta Junior High Six Stories (2006) Wunkrock

Straight Outta Junior High's new EP follows the not quite massively successful Mongoloid Monarchy full-length, which had some insanely fun songs and some crazily boring ones. It also had some fast songs, something Six Stories does not. I don't know if the band went out of their way to make all of the songs pretty much the same tempo, but either way I'm left thinking just when are SOJH going to get their arses in gear and make a record that's solid all the way through...

Don't get me wrong, a couple of the tracks on here, namely "Stuck in a Rut" and "Insulin" are instantly catchy, and the intro to "I Knew I Never" seriously reminds me of the Vandals' "The New You," but this EP is seriously lacking in the wacky and goofy department; it seems a bit forced at times. A decent injection of speed Kiss of Deaf style would have worked wonders and made everything a million times more FUN. It's a real shame as the guys are still coming on leaps and bounds in terms of songwriting.

So there you have it. A short review. What more needs to be said? Keep an eye on this band, I have a feeling they have a cracking full-length brewing away somewhere, somehow. For now, if you're a fan of no-thrills pop-punk flavoured with your high school years, half of this EP is pretty damn good. Just don't expect to listen to it all the way through.

(thirtyseconds)