Staten Island's Up for Nothing play throwback melodic punk hearkening to the days of 88 Fingers Louie and Good Riddance (albeit less hardcore-minded). The band play it to a pretty familiar key: fast, upbeat, and full of exuberance.

Admittedly, Twelve Stories Down doesn't really provide anything new. At all. But the band plow through this third release of theirs with a nice sense of fun and crunch, from the "whoa-oh"-laden "The Slouch" (which has a pretty clutch guest part from Grey Area's Ernie Parada) and aggressive, practically street punk/relatively hardcore-tinged and overall standout "Destruction" to the mean slant of "Mark of the Beast" and more joyous, almost Souls-like anthemic qualities of "Behind the Wheel". All along, the band's got a mix of scratchy yells and more gravelly barks that make for some good vocal dynamism (see closer "On the Rise" [which may or may not have a Silent Majority reference] for the best example).

The production deserves a mention as well. The songs receive a great, crisp tone to complement the three/four-chord blast procedure each track more or less takes. Apparently the band recorded it at a converted production studio that used to be Steven Seagal's old mansion. No shit. And that name's probably an appropriate timeline reference for the band's sound as well.

Twelve Stories Down ain't a brilliant recreation of '90s melodic punk, but it's a pretty solid update all the same.

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Twelve Stories Down