Various

Dangerous Intersections V [7 inch] (2009)

Brian Shultz

The last volume of Traffic Street's Dangerous Intersections series we'll cover for a while, V is yet another solid entry with some neat surprise(s).

Troublemake start it with "Use Six or Seven Times and Destroy," a scrappy, somewhat poppy punk rock number with dual vocals that I'd meekly compare to the really old Lawrence Arms stuff. The band could use a little development and better recording, but it's an OK track overall.

The Legendary San Diego Chargers provide "Fred and the Kids Are Dead," which starts with a careful Americana feel but quickly jostles into a faster tempo. Despite the quick pace of it at times, there's a really thoughtful and wistful bend to their lead vocals. He sounds a bit like Brian Fallon, even, even though it seems like I'm making poorly informed judgment calls in this review so far.

Shang-a-lang have a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, fuck-all pisstake with "Don't Bring Him Around." Their lo-fi, gravelly punk is done well, but this song actually feels too quick to make any real impact.

I figured Andrew Jackson Jihad would have the best track on here, and they do, but not exactly what I or most people would expect -- it's a fucking dub acoustic cover of Billy Joel's "You May Be Right"! And it's awesome! Slow and methodical yet silly and kind of fun.

STREAM
Troublemake - Use Six or Seven Times and Destroy
The Legendary San Diego Chargers - Fred and the Kids Are Dead
Shang-a-lang - Don't Bring Him Around