August Premier

August Premier: Fireworks and AlcoholFireworks and Alcohol (2003)
Fueled By Ramen Records

Reviewer Rating: 2.5

Contributed by: greg0rbgreg0rb
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on August 8th 2003Another up-and-comer from Chicagoland, and another pop punk band to add to the list. These guys have the hooks, and a little bit more punch and rawness behind them than most of the pack. This is evident with the first track "Bakersong," on the punker side of pop punk, with it's fast-chugging palm .

Another up-and-comer from Chicagoland, and another pop punk band to add to the list. These guys have the hooks, and a little bit more punch and rawness behind them than most of the pack. This is evident with the first track "Bakersong," on the punker side of pop punk, with it's fast-chugging palm muted guitars and fast drum fills, followed by a "fuck this" smack dab in the pause to start the breakdown chorus. They go a little overboard with that bad ass thing though, like in "Fisticuffs" with the lyrics "Where the fuck did you go? / Motherfucker god dammit / How the fuck have you been? / See you later / Don't you never ever come around here again." The album title turns me off too, but oh well.

Vocals on the CD are melodic of course, but sometimes vocalist Chris puts a little harshness behind the words, which is always a nice change. There is no overdone harmonizing of the vocals, which is good because that can be nauseating; the preferred background "woahs" replace them. August Premier falls a little short of labelmates Fall Out Boy in the melody department- while they are good, they are not as addictive as those by FOB. But if addictive poppy melodies are not quite your cup o'tea, maybe these guys are rough enough to please you.

A couple favorites would be "The Other Side of Town" with its half-time chorus and frequent triplet hits, and "Dear Chicago," the on-the-road song that seems cheesy at first, but grabs you more with each listen. Another standout is "Fall," with impressive drumming, including a section with bongos (I'm pretty sure, but the liner notes said nothing about any other percussion), followed by a section with some fancy ride bell work. On a side note, the lyrics "Everything we know is wrong" made me laugh because it reminded me of Marble Madness for Nintendo. Ahh, the Silly Level.

The only weaknesses would be my standard statement for bands like this: it is not incredibly original. Nevertheless, the album is a good effort and look for them to build on it, hopefully they play up the raw angle a little more separate themselves from the masses. So add another to the list of Chicago pop punk bands, but take note if the rest are too cleaned up for you- these bad boys may be just what you're looking for.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (November 24, 2005)

internet radio is soo cool http://www.los-angeles-casino.com/lanir/casino-directory-2005.htm l

Anonymous (August 20, 2003)

This is one of the best cd's ever. Yeah some of you pricks only know chris cause he played in allister for 6th months. You probably have never heard this cd. The production is really really tight on this cd not to over produced and not to raw

Anonymous (August 13, 2003)

any of you self-righteous pricks actually heard the album? by the way..chris never played on any of the allister cd's - just on the cover and on tour as a fill in for a short while. but if that connection makes it easier for you to rip on a band that actually has some talent, then so be it.

Anonymous (August 13, 2003)

Sometimes, a record label needs to step in and end the madness. They need to say "guys...we know this is your record, your music, your vision...but there's no way on god's green earth that we're slapping that artwork on anything that bears our name."

Seriously Fueled By Ramen...end the madness.

Anonymous (August 13, 2003)

TATECORE!!!

Poisonthesink (August 12, 2003)

"A pop-punker in a trucker hat? I smell a fresh new trend!"

I also have a great idea to capitalize on your fresh trend, we could start a chain of stores for items like trucker hats, or even such "punk" items as studded belts, over priced cd's, fat pants, and wallet chains and say we're punk. Secretly we'll be a huge corperation just capitalizing on the latest trend that MTV is putting out! Isn't that a great idea?!

Mr_Pink (August 11, 2003)

That cover photo deserves to be in the Hall of Douchebags:

http://www.rockandrollconfidential.com/hall1.htm

Anonymous (August 11, 2003)

or the best. Wait, who am i kidding, this is shit.

FortyMinutesWest (August 10, 2003)

Hahaha. Holy shit, this might be the worst CD of the year.

greg0rb (August 10, 2003)

Yeah, taking stuff out of context is fun... also, shut up.
-Greg
PS, I didnt say I disliked this album, just starts off kinda weak.

Anonymous (August 10, 2003)

A pop-punker in a trucker hat? I smell a fresh new trend!

Where have you been for the last half of a year?

Everyone is doing it DUUUUDE!!!

- Scott
http://www.local-felons.com/
(Pfft!)

Anonymous (August 10, 2003)

"but take note if the rest are too cleaned up for you- these bad boys may be just what you’re looking for."

What? Is this a cd review, or an ad for gay porn?

Anonymous (August 10, 2003)

I haven't heard this, nor do I want to..but that cover makes me want to go to the local hot topic and get violent with the clientele...who's with me?

Anonymous (August 10, 2003)

I can tell that one of the band members is related to a member of allister because this band sucks.

Kevin11 (August 10, 2003)

A pop-punker in a trucker hat? I smell a fresh new trend!

Anonymous (August 9, 2003)

why does every bad high school content band have cd's that have two pointless yet suggestive(?) i guess words in them.

"fireworks and alchohol", "sticks and stones", "young and the hopeless"

and you can bet if its not the record title, its one of there lameass songs.

broken bottles and broken hearts

i dont even know if thats one, but i bet its on 50 cd's in some different variation of cleverness.

quit writing bad music.
wyzo

Anonymous (August 9, 2003)

that is the worst cover art i've ever seen.

-greyicewater

Anonymous (August 9, 2003)

The singer Chris was in Allister and his brother still is.

This CD would be better if it were faster. They're a good band live but all these songs are really slow.

Better Chicago bands worth checking out: Fallout Boy, Knockout, Much The Same, 504 Plan, Split Habit, Jinxpack, Starstruck.. okay nevermind that list would be huge.

Anonymous (August 8, 2003)

oh that cover art sucks.

Anonymous (August 8, 2003)

Allister changes lineups everytime i wipe my ass

Anonymous (August 8, 2003)

Wasn't one of the guys in this band in Allister