Artist: The Vandals

Album: Hollywood Potato Chip

Label: Kung Fu Records

Tracks: 13

Length: 33:28

               Reviewed By: Justin Brinker

 

Punk rock for many has become a long running joke, unless you are an adolescent and sporting a Simple Plan t-shirt.  Some are from the camp that its spirit is still alive and well and just like any genre it is going through a horrible dry spell.  I like to think there are very credible bands i.e. The Descendents, No Motiv, Alkaline Trio, Green Day The Bouncing Souls and Rancid that continue to breath oxygen into a genre on life support.  While the Bad Religions and NOFX’s of the world wind their careers down, there is one band that usually gets lost among the proverbial veteran shuffle: The Vandals.  A career spanning over two decades The Vandals have fallen off the radar for many and after listening to their latest release “Hollywood Potato Chip” it is not hard to figure out why.

 

The Vandals are responsible in some form or another for much of the irreverent pop punk that continues to resurface year after year.  While Blink 182 who at one point in their career cited The Vandals as their biggest influence tries to shake the label The Vandals are doing anything but.  “Hollywood Potato Chip” does nothing for The Vandals although it does have its moments.

 

The opening “How They Getcha” is The Vandals returning to early form: loud, brash, and abrasive and it works really well.  Then things start to get a little hairy with a cover of Freddie Mercury’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” that is just mediocre, while “My Neck, My Back” harkens The Vandals of the 90’s with a heavy pop punk influence.  “Designed By Satan” changes tempos but for the most part manages to stay at a mid tempo pace while drummer Josh Freese keeps the song afloat.  “Dig A Hole” picks things back up at a frantic pace while vocalist Dan Quackenbush beseeches, “Take a pill it disappears while loafing through our golden years, our children’s children’s children in the tradition of our lives will deal with it tomorrow and never try.”  “I Guess I’ll Take You Back” with its country swagger introduction and skipping bass line is somewhat of a stretch for the band before the song picks up full speed.  One of the funnier songs I have heard all year “Christian or Canadian?” pokes fun at the typical CCM market as Quackenbush shouts, “It couldn’t be worse. From chorus to verse. It sounds like Korn, but a little bit worse. Is it Christian or Canadian?”

 

The Vandals show no sign of growing up lyrically or musically.  They seem to be content with continuing to be the same band they were over twenty years ago.  That is admirable in some cases but in this instance it is holding them back. It seems like The Vandals are toying with mediocrity throughout most of “Hollywood Potato Chip.”  There are a few catchy pop punk songs but beyond that they are struggling to be a relevant force in this genre they once fueled.