Static Radio NJ

One for the Good Guys (2007)

Brian Shultz

Static Radio has garnered all sorts of incestuous comparisons ("PAINT IT BLACK meets KID DYNAMITE"; "…in the vein of Paint It Black or Kid Dynamite"; may as well say "your brother fucking your dad"), but when you live in New Jersey in the latter half of the 2000s and play melodic hardcore, maybe it's sort of unavoidable. Those worshipping at the altar of Yemin may rejoice once again.

In any event, a touch of Ensign's raspiness helps mix things up just a bit, but more often than not One for the Good Guys finds Static Radio firing at mostly the same single cylinder. It's a good cylinder, but even at less than 10 minutes maybe you'd wish the band would throw in a tempo change or hell, even a massive breakdown at this point. However, the last song, "Who's Laughing Now"'s verses carry an urgency and rambled flow that might remind some of Kill Your Idols, and that'll perk your ears up if they've suddenly laid low for a few previous songs.

This CD release of One for the Good Guys tacks on three more tracks from Chunksaah's original 7" release of the EP, and that helps Good Guys from really being over before you know it.

Originality might be at a premium here and it would be tough to even quantify Static Radio as one of the acts in the upper class of KD-similar groups at this point, but One for the Good Guys lays down a very solid foundation that will imaginably see much better things built atop.

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One for the Good Guys