Much The Same

Quitters Never Win (2003)

Sonik

Much The Same is a newly signed addition to A-F Records also home of Pipedown, Virus Nine, and most notably Anti-Flag. If you are familiar at all with the aforementioned bands you would know that they all share similar styles. All the bands on A-F Records are of a political nature. Although the name suggests that they are pretty Much The Same, this is definitely not the case.
Much The Same plays a brand of melodic punk similar to bands such as No Use or Pennywise. The whole sound of the record would fit perfectly on the Fat Wreck Chords roster. They do although have things that make them special in their own light.
The songs are fast and catchy while lyrically dealing with self-conflicts and relationships. The music is along the lines of fast melodic skate punk while occasionally slowing down at times. This band knows how to play their instruments. One of my friends described the music as being reminiscent of older Fat Wreck Chords stuff but with more leads. The bass player can really fly around the frets. The drumming is fast and furious but knows when to slow down the pace. The vocals are something that really stands out on this record. It's hard to describe the lead singer's voice, maybe a mix of Millencolin with No Use. You can tell the lyrics are sung with passion and meaning.
The first song Wish has a great chorus with the line, "If all good things come to an end, then what about the bad?" The song Father and Son deals with a son writing a letter to his father, asking him why he was never there. The second verse of the song is the father replying telling him how he worked all the time so the kid could have the life his father wanted him to.
To sum it up this band while sounding simliar to some bands definitely brings their own sound to the table. Bringing skate punk to a new level at which it shoule be played. If you are a fan of Fat Wreck Chords style skate punk with intelligent lyrics and great music then check this band out as soon as possible.