Ten Foot Pole/Trouble Is

live in Ottawa, Ontario (2002)

Angele

The skate punk veterans Ten Foot Pole's are at it again on tour with a pop-punk band from Jacksonville, Florida; ‘Trouble Is'. TFP have definitely been keeping busy, recently releasing a new record ‘Bad Mother Tucker' on yes, Victory Records not Epitaph. In all honestly I wasn't that much impressed with Epitaph's work on TFP's last album ‘Insider' either. But after talking to Dennis (singer) it seems like TFP's ready to admit some of their previous flaws and become the stable band he's always wanted it to be even though he went through more shit than 15 pounds in a 10 pound bag to get there. So a new label, new members what the hell, they're really a new band, no matter what their live shows always great and sells out in Ottawa almost every time.

I never heard of ‘Trouble Is' before neither could I find their website so not knowing what to expect they were pretty good. They're a four-piece (singer plays bass), with a sound that reminded me a lot of a Glasseater VS. New Found Glory, type of deal. They just released an L.P called ‘Nothing Bends It Always Breaks' and the best tracks I heard them perform off it that night were ‘Chemical', ‘Throw the Covers Over Me' and ‘Graduation', they also mix up their sound really well, playing some different stuff like this reggaeish songs about smoking weed and of course for all the ladies quite a few love songs. They moved around on stage a lot and climbed on top of a bunch of stacked speakers a few times in attempts to get the crowd going. The singers got a good voice and he's able to reach different ranges but I though the guitars could pick it up a bit, I love the speed and their sound could use it, that's the problem I had with Trouble Is's set.

After teasing the crowd for what seemed like forever, telling us it's better if there's anticipation Ten Foot Pole finally started ripping it up with what better song to start off with than ‘A.D.D' followed by one of their new songs that lots of kids seemed to know ‘Plastic'. Everything sounded great even though the hired sound guy was within budget. Eric on guitar, A.K.A ‘Fretburner' and Mike on bass are TFP's newest talented members, they're young and exactly what their live set needed to bring this band back. They were both real animated and fun to watch on stage, even playing some songs better or maybe just livelier than some of the original members. Kevin on drums for some reason forgot to set up his fans that night so you could tell he was having a bit of trouble dealing with the heat and his feet were slipping on the peddles cause of all the sweat. Dennis was in high spirits, letting kids come up on the small ass stage with him to sing along. His voice sounded better than ever especially when they played ‘Armchair Quarterback'. He also did a good job singing some of their old songs, sung originally by Scott Radinsky like ‘Old Man' and ‘Never Look Back' really adding a good touch to their set-list. I'm definitely going to go and see them again when they come back in a few months, TFP's new line-up sounds tighter and stronger than ever, anyone who has a pulse can relate to their music and they finally look happy…