Spraynard
Cut & Paste [12 inch] (2010)
Bryne Yancey
West Chester, PA's Spraynard play a brand of gruff, slightly rowdy pop-punk that at this point may feel awfully familiar, but Cut & Paste is anthemic (and brief) enough that it never wears out its welcome.
The biggest initial strength of many of these songs lies in the band's vocal approach, which relies heavily on Latterman-esque layered harmonies that are mostly yelled and almost always effective. The dual vocals on the hilariously titled "Stickin' Together Is What Good Waffles Do" is definitely the strongest part of what would otherwise be a paint-by-numbers song. The band does a nice job of slowing things down a bit on "STR8TRPN," sprinkling in some jagged guitar parts to keep things interesting.
"Same Cat, Different Result" is fast, bouncy, fun and catchy, with plenty of pounding drums and a downright infectious vocal pattern in the chorus. Same goes for "Take Your Shoes Off, Thank My Mom," which at 1:17 is over before it begins, but Spraynard make the seconds count with extremely catchy instrumental parts and nearly frenetic drumming throughout. The vocal style becomes even more gruff on "Ruth Buzzi Better Watch Her Back," which works despite being a little jarring. The bassline shines brightly on "Say What You Want About Jesse…" and album closer "Damn Julie, Damn.", with the latter seeing the band stretching their wings a bit and incorporating quite a bit more melody into a longer song.
With Cut & Paste, Spraynard do plenty of things right and keep the listener entertained throughout its 21-minute running time. It'll be interesting to see where the band goes from here, as they definitely have the chops to get better.