Early last year I reviewed a split EP featuring Antilogical and fellow Grand Rapids, MI punks Murder Party!, also on East Grand Record Co. I liked the Antilogical side quite a bit, but hadn’t heard much from them since. Then earlier this year I inadvertantly caught the trio at a DIY show, and was reminded how much I enjoy them. Now I’m happy to have gotten my hands on Politilies, their new four song 7 inch record. It reminds me of a lot of the records I loved as a kid (and still love today).

Musically, Antilogical is mostly an old school punk rock band. What sets them apart is singer/guitarist Dustin Anderson’s voice. It’s a squawk that sort of floats over the instruments like a disembodied spirit. The lyrics range from relatively serious to relatively absurd. A-side opener “WWHD” starts off with some hard, funky bass before it really kicks into gear. Overall, the bass lines are more complex than your average punk band. On “Plastic Safe”, some of the words are delivered in the spoken word style of Jello Biafra or maybe Doc Dart (Crucifucks). The surf influenced guitar is a bit reminiscent of ‘East Bay’ Ray too. “Lie for Lie” and “Fairytales” on the B-side follow a similar formula. The songs are all in the 2-3 minute range, and there’s not a bad one in the bunch.

I would use Dead Kennedys, The Vandals and Angry Samoans as reference points for Antilogical. These are older guys (maybe even older than yours truly) playing classic style punk. They clearly enjoy what they do, and it shows on this fun little record. It’s also worth noting that this features cool black and white artwork by local musician Zack Godi (Westside Rebellion, Dead Eye Zack). Politilies is a good listen and continues the streak of great records coming out of Grand Rapids.