Egghead was an NYC-based pop-punk band that released a bunch of EPs in the '90s, then called it quits. Now they're an L.A.-based pop-punk band, and finally have a proper full-length to their name after a dozen years off the game. Make no mistake, though: This certainly doesn't sound like a suddenly serious band.

I don't know what Egghead sounded like in the '90s, but their take on pop-punk is a lot like one the Ergs! picked up on and ran with masterfully for the last decade. So, in listening to Would Like a Few Words with You, something does pale here in comparison. I mean, they even have the Ergs!'s strangely experimental bend...at least, momentarily, with opener "Overture" merely being a wacky, major-key piano solo. Then "We Dug It Up" comes, and the similarities come to light, though this sounds like a lesser version. Plus, Egghead's topics are usually far sillier.

I take that back slightly: The melodies in this particular track aren't bad, actually, and the lyrics hold up well enough. The trio have an undeniably youthful snottiness about them for having recorded this 18 years after their formation, and it's reflected well in this song. However, the candor of the band's goofiness has its limits: the full, uncensored title of "My Daughter" is "My Daughter Can Fuck Up Your Daughter" is self-explanatory.

Another problem: Some of the songs are very same-y. They go along that mid-tempo chug, and while it's an alright song, hearing it over and over again gets old, even with their vocalists taking turns to offer a bit of variety in the singing. "My First Action Movie" plows along sort of a poppy '80s hardcore pace, but the "oh yeah!"s get a little twee. "Stuck Inside a Stuckey's (With Leonard from the Dickies)" starts out promising but hits up the band's typical three-chord route immediately after its slower, distorted riff intro. The acoustic, balladic "I'm Still Here" is sweet and yet somehow kinda cringe-worthy at the same time ("You spend a hundred dollars to get your hair colored / and I could spend a hundred hours watching you in the shower. / But it's just a bonus that you're so hot. / I'd love you just as much if you were not.").

I do like the various list items in the liner notes, like this "GOOD NAME FOR [A] BAND THAT NO ONE HAS USED YET": To Be Perfectly Frankenstein.

This certainly isn't a total failure for a comeback-it's just that, during Egghead's absence, there's seemingly a lot of bands that picked up where the band left off, and they either did or are doing a better job than Would Like a Few Words with You does.

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My Daughter
It's All True