Ten Foot Pole

Subliminable Messages (2004)

Scott

I'm having the worst case of writers block trying to review this disc and I was so excited about getting to appraise it.

Basically what I'm gnawing at is that Ten Foot Pole is back. Not back like when the came out of a couple years slumber and released the disappointing Bad Mother Trucker. I'm talking about being back like "Hey, this album is almost as good as Insider or Rev. It's probably because that nice guy Ryan Greene was fiddling with the controls again. He's so swell, why have punk bands been neglecting him lately…*cough* Pulley?

After to trying to write some kind of intro with no success I found myself frustrated and tried writing about the music. I stumbled when attempting to convey just how pissed the band sounds on the opening track "Wake Up (And Smell the Fascism)" as if they were Propagandi or ran out of milk for breakfast in the morning. The guitars blaze as Dennis Jagard barks angrily, raising his boyish voice to new levels of maturity. I didn't like the adolescent direction the band takes on "Kicked Out Of Kindergarten," "She Looks Like," and "Last Call For Russel's Balls", but despite the immaturity I still sing along since these four musicians have the ability to write irresistibly catchy songs. I also failed to express how the story of Rachel Corrie sorrowfully hit me in the song with the same title. From there the album plays out just like a typical Ten Foot Pole disc should, SoCal skate punk crafted impeccably. I figured I'd throw a comment about how TFP continue with this summer's fashion and toss some anti-Bush material around the field (just check out the album's title). Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how you might have agreed with me when I said that "Still Believe" will finish as one of the top punk songs of the year.

I apologize for my lackluster review; I just couldn't find the words. However, don't let my lack of productivity shun you away though; in a year when melodic punk is crawling back into the scene Ten Foot Pole's Subliminable Messages will fit perfectly in between it's peers like the Descendents and Bad Religion.