I've always had plenty of room in my heart for sloppy bar rock as well as mid-`90s pop-punk. Usually I have had to have my Chixdiggit and my C'Mon served up on different platters, but Mexican Cheerleader make everything a little more simple.

The Chicago four-piece featuring ex-members of Apocalypse Hoboken and Oblivion have been around since 1999 with the Mexican Mystery Tour EP being their fifth proper release.

For the most part, the songs on Mexican Mystery Tour lean heavily towards catchy pop-punk with more hooks than you can shake a stick at. However the production, however it was done, leaves the album with a rough-around-the-edges and fuzzed-out feel that also manages to creep through into the songs' writing, best exemplified in "Plenty of Pain" and "Film Festival." While Mexican Cheerleader is able to switch over from pop to garage rock just fine, they are at their best when mixing the two styles together, as they do so wonderfully in "King King." At other times though, the band sticks to writing simpler, straightforward pop-punk. "Showtime" is the best such track on Mexican Mystery Tour.

Sometimes us older dudes like pop-punk, but with a little more scruff around the neck. Mexican Cheerleader provide that in spades. For this, I thank them.