The Popsters

Our Bites Bring You Back (2008)

Chris Mellides

The Popsters are your typical pop-punk band. They do away with the conventions of the genre they're associated with by attempting to break the stifling chains and shackles of artistic limitation, all with the hope of sounding different in the process.

Unfortunately, they hardly succeed at realizing their full potential on this disc. Experimentation and needless self-indulgence seems to set the pace for a massive freefall ending in broken spirits and bruised egos.

The Popsters try far too hard and their experimental flare does little to work towards their own benefit.

While Our Bites Bring You Back is far from terrible, it seems like a record that would do little to stir any real emotion within the hearts and minds of listeners far and wide. I for one felt a large wave of indifference wash over me the second the ninth and final track of the record came to its shaky end.

"I Will Do" and "Till Friday" are about the only two songs on here that save the release from finding a home in bargain bins across the country. What's cool about them is the clear musical distinction that exists between them. "I Will Do" is a punchy and anthemic number with a buzzing guitar riff that gives way to a somewhat decent solo, which bites at the heels of the finish. "'Till Friday" is just the opposite. It's more of a sentimental song that, while up-tempo, still possesses the right elements commonly found in slower love ballads and bittersweet songs rife with themes of romantic confusion and soured relationships.

It would have been nice to see more of the record's songs follow a similar schematic. Instead, every other track seems to serve as filler, which will no doubt provide us with a background noise worthy of a couple yawns from the few who'd bothered to pay any attention to the album in the first place.