Yale, Massachusetts

Act Like You've Been There (2011)

John Flynn

Yale, Massachusetts is a four-piece pop-punk band from Boston, and shares members with fellow locals Shambles. They made their recorded debut with this five-song EP released late last year, and the band's take on pop-punk manages to throw in a couple of stylistic curveballs that manage to differentiate it from the (perhaps saturated) pop-punk pack.

The band tears through the five songs here with abandon, and only two of the tracks break the two-minute mark. Opener "Danger City, Population: Me" is a definite highlight, with a driving, repetitive-in-the-good-way guitar riff powering the verses until the shouted "BA-BA-DA-BA!" chorus (You can check out the video for the song here). On "Doo Wop," the band slows it down and takes on a little swing that, for some reason, really brings out the similarities in lead singer Roger Lussier's vocals to that of Offspring's Dexter Holland.

The EP motors along, settling into a more standard punk style, like the bouncy "Mewtwo," (Pokémon fans just perked up) and delivering some amusingly snarky lyrics on songs like the closer, "Keep it Shitty." Overall, the EP is catchy, delivering hooks that'll get stuck in one's head--particularly the aforementioned "Danger City"--and a whole lot of fun.