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The Humanoids

Are Born
2007
self-released

The Humanoids - Are Born (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Brian
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Published on June 5th 2007

Where the fuck did this band come from? Oh, St. Louis.

Well, in any event, they're your new favorite pop-punk band. Seriously. Failing to conform to any suffixed band affiliation, the Humanoids instead draw from a bevy of (somewhat) disparate punk influences; if Descendents, 7 Seconds, Screeching Weasel and Dillinger Four have no entries in any of these guys' compact disc collections, I'm severely lost.

This self-titled EP is self-released and comes from a band that's apparently been around for less than a year, but it already outclasses practically every group of veteran pop-punks the Humanoids are likely to play with. The band ambles along at a rambunctious tempo and sometimes hardcore-anchored vocal ("For Better or Worse"), but always mix it up when it seems feared a song would grow stale at a moment's notice. One listen to a song like "Minor Wound" and I'm fucking floored that a band with so little experience can write such a catchy, compelling and complex tune. Rhyming couplets as simple as "growing up means fucking up / by its own definition. / The only thing that we know / is how not to listen" ("Men of Standard") make it hard to resist shouting along.

The Humanoids deliver 14 minutes of unexpected goodness here. It would be an understatement to say I'm excited to see hear what comes next if this is just their first release.

STREAM
Men of Standard
For Better or Worse
Targets

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Posted by minorxkris on 2008-01-29 21:26:32
My Score:

played with these guys in chicago saturday night. totally solid dudes, and this ep is absolutely amazing. i've listened to it about a dozen times since saturday, and it's not showing any signs of spoiling. fucking great.

Posted by MisFit4Me on 2007-07-04 12:45:44

Absolutely one of the best bands we have in the STL punk scene, as little as it is. If them and Dead City Dregs played a show together, I think the erection in my pants would break the zipper.

Posted by modelcitizen on 2007-06-10 01:24:04
My Score:

i really like these guys and this cd is ace. but our scene here in st louis aint shit. as i'm sure any other town has, we got a lot of shitty highschoolers that want to play metalcore and poppunk but there's also some genuinely good bands trying to make it. my band model citizen is one of them. i invite you all to check us or any of the the following stl bands out.

myspace.com/yourfriendmodelcitizen
myspace.com/lastplace stl
myspace.com/loganstl
myspace.com/benedictarnoldfuck
myspac e.com/thehailmarys
myspace.com/hotatomics
myspace.com/texasjust icewilleatmealive

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 8, 2007 at 5:23 PM (EDT)

What they shoulda been called:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/5/ 5f/350px-Inhumanoids_toys.jpg

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 1:23 PM (EDT)
My Score:

This record is incredible. By far one of the best releases of the year.

Great review, I love it, but don't act like these guys came out of nowhere - they were all veterans of the STL hardcore scene before starting the Humanoids, hailing from bands like Step On It!.

I agree with the guy below, STL's scene is kind of a joke, but these guys are the first ones in over a decade who could save it.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 10:22 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Shawn's a ninja camp flunkout, Snoodles is a snoodles, Greg is a boring business owner, Zim-dog is called Zim-dog, and Tim's frankly a bit of a wenis. Frankly, they flat out destroy. Assholes.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 8:43 AM (EDT)

st.loser punk scene is a joke, or any scene for that matter.

Posted by theonetruebill on 2007-06-06 00:59:15

I like the myspace songs a lot. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out and see if they play any shows in Chicago and try to pick this up.

Posted by halfcutskeleton on 2007-06-05 18:48:47
My Score:

This band is great. I've seen them live a couple of times and they blew me away.

Posted by bikeage on 2007-06-05 13:22:48
My Score:

yeah, these guys kick ass.

Posted by 1234go on 2007-06-05 10:57:26
My Score:

I reviewed this for MRR...severely backed. Totally took me by surprise.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 1:50 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Whoa, nice review. Come see us at the Fest 6 in October.

Posted by TheLando on 2007-06-05 01:50:03
My Score:

This is seriously a great cd. I've seen these guys several times live. They are just as good live as they are on their recordings.

Posted by joeg on 2007-06-05 01:21:11
My Score:

this is pretty good. i'd pick this up.