Lag Wagon: Double Pladinum
I used to like Lag Wagon, I'd heard some songs on Fat Wreck Chords compilations and in
various other locations. Then I went and saw them live. Let's just say they were not the
highlight of my day, and I was no longer stoked on them. Then Mack Dawg had to go and put
"Know it All" in Simple Pleasures. Being the snowboarded grommet that I am, I
decided that the band might suck, but the song was in a Mack Dawg video, so it must be
good, and I went out and bought the album "Trashed". To my surprise it wasn't
all that bad, which brings me to the point of this review.
When the new Lag Wagon album "Double Pladinum" came out, I bought that too. On
top of having an extremely cool cover, this album is full of punk-pop gems like the one on
the Simple Pleasures soundtrack. While it is extremely reminiscent of "Trashed"
it's not quite as good, but the band's talent certainly hasn't diminished any.
Good Riddance: Ballads from the Revolution
Good Riddance has been one of my favorite bands for awhile, so when the new album came
out, I rushed out to the nearest bro-brah record store to buy it. Of course they didn't
have it, so I turned to the mall, where I was able to buy it for a reasonable 17 bucks. I
am happy to say that it was worth my effort and money, although free would definitely be
better, what can you do.
I'm having a hard time comparing "Ballads" to either previous Good Riddance
albums, because it is more a mixture of both. It has the hard guitar riffs of "For
God and Country", as well as the pop influence of "A Comprehensive Guide to
Moderne Rebellion". For those of you who these references get lost on (I really hate
that) Good Riddance is straight ahead punk, and the new album is definitely worth a
listen.
