Huntingtons

High School Rock (1998)

pokinatcha

I was fairly surprised to see no reviews for any of the Huntington's 37324620957 albums they've done in the past few years. Okay, so perhaps that's a tad bit of an exaggeration, but truth be told, the Huntingtons have released on onslaught of albums recently, with a rigorous touring schedule. Be warned, this is my first review, but, anyway, on to the review.

The Huntingtons are most admittedly a Ramones cover band. There's no way around it. However, undoubtedly, they're one of the best, if not the best, at covering the Ramones and producing Ramone-esque songs. They've even found themselves winning a Ramone's cover band contest at CBGB's, performing with the legendary Joey, and touring with many other former Ramones.

The album is entirely modeled after the Ramone movie, Rock and Roll High School, and the lyrics share the insanity of the Ramones. The album starts off with the song "High School Rock and Roll". It's a quality song to start off the album. The next on the track list, and my personal favorite, is "We Don't Care". The lyrics elaborate on that theme, most specifically portraying the angst and crap one takes in teenage life. On a side note, the Huntington's fan club is called the We Don't Care Foundation. On the next track, the Huntingtons get a little dirty, with a faster paced, harder song, titled "FFT". The next few songs tell of that inevitable pop-punk subject, girls. "Aloha, It's You" a song about his woman being away in Hawaii leaving him alone, "I Don't Wanna Sit Around with You" a song about a fellow punker, assumably street punk, whom the lead singer doesn't want to hang out with, and "When I Think About Her" which is a song about a chick that everyone makes fun of, but the singer has a crush on. The next song portrays the Huntngton's worship of the Ramones with a song about leaving his girlfriend, Jeannie, because she hates the Ramones, aptly titled "Jeannie Hates the Ramones." There are few, if any, tracks I skip when listening to this album. They all have that Ramone's pop-punk feel and zaniness, if you will. To save space and time, I've listed the next songs:

-I'm No Good: Another song about a girl, pretty good
-Pencil Neck: Harder with no lyrics
-Stinky's All Grown Up: Story of Stinky, sweet guitar riffs
-1985: A song about the movie "Back to the Future", comical lyrics, good song
-How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?: The song title tells all, another goodie
-Dies Saught: Rather short, harder, and in German?
-No Luck Again: The average life of you and I, an okay song
-Jackie is an Athiest: The one expression of they're religious views on the album (yes, they are Christians), but not slewed with "Jesus loves us", yet instead "jackie o, jackie is an atheist / jackie says she won't change her mind / jackie o, jackie is an atheist / just give her some time". It's a very good song, that i enjoy throughly.
-Avi is a Vampire: The closing track of a misunderstood dude everyone thinks is a vampire. Can't we all relate? This has some sweet guitar riffs and is a very good song.

Overall, it's a very good album, that i always enjoy listening to and singing along with. The entirety of it is rather short, though, but if you're a Ramones fan or enjoy pop-punk similarly written, I'd give the Huntingtons a shot. The album is easily worth the money, especially for their debut record. In recent years, the Huntingtons have experienced MANY lineup changes, including one of the two (Cliffy and Mikey) founders of the band leaving, just recently. They're releasing a new album titled "Songs in the Key of You" in a couple of days. The Huntingtons are a great band, with an exciting energy, and this is a good album. If you ever get a chance to see them live, go for it. They put on a great live show, full of energy.

I hope that didn't suck too much… I'd guess its kinda long. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated. Thanks!