Suckerbox

When I reviewed the Pop-Punk's Not Dead compilation, one of the highlights was "Wrong" by Cayman Islands band Suckerbox. The song, with its start-stop verses and its catchy driving chorus, stood out as one of the stronger songs on the collection. But that's all it was -- one song, certainly cause for checking out the rest of the group's material, but hardly a barometer for how good that material may be. Be that as it may, a compilation's purpose is to get the listener to try out new bands and try Suckerbox's 2004 debut, Sucks!, I did.

The aforementioned "Wrong" kicks off Sucks! and ends up being the strongest song on the album by far, which is unfortunate. Sure, there's some decent stuff going on elsewhere -- "Daylight" is an above average pop-punk tune, and "Ten Thousand Bridges" is a nice change of pace (and somewhat unsuprising considering the band's roots) with its reggae-ish intro. "Enemy" sounds like it could have been ripped directly from Green Day's Lookout!-era catalogue, which can be said for the majority of the tracks on Sucks!.

There's a huge early `90s pop-punk vibe throughout this record, which I realize sounds great, but there's just something missing here. It could be that the majority of the tracks here are slower, mid-tempo numbers and tend to blend together. Or the muddy production. Whatever it is, Suckerbox fails to catch any of the energy exemplified by many more bands in the genre, both past and present.

The good news, besides what was mentioned a couple paragraphs above, is that Sucks! was released in 2004. As far as anyone knows Suckerbox could be a totally different band in 2007. Here's to hoping they take the great moments of Sucks! and expand on them while cutting out the filler on future releases.