The Agenda! - Start The Panic (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

The Agenda!

Start The Panic (2002)

Kindercore


Garage rock is the new emo [which in turn was the new ska, which was the new pop punk, which was the new... ah, you get the point]. It is a trend, and everyone and their mother is trying to capitalize on it. Sure, some of it is top notch, but on the opposite side of the spectrum, you have dozens of albums of bands seemingly thrown together in a heartbeat in order to rape this once-potent music of any originality.

So where does the Agenda! [yes, there's actually an exclamation point there] stand? Somewhere in between, teetering between greatness and mediocrity.

The Athens, GA quintet has all the prerequisites to make it big in this garage-rock hungry world:

  • Each member has a clever moniker [J.R. Suicide, Switchblade Steve, etc.]
  • Every song seems to be cranked up to 11, tempo-wise - more rock in less time equals lots of frat boys rocking out on repeat
  • They have a gimmick with the exclamation points [seriously, every damn sentence on this album ends with one of those things]
  • They all have matching armbands [hmm, where have I seen that before?]

    This band will probably succeed in modest numbers, just because they're underground enough to do so. Scenesters sick of the Hives due to their astonishing mainstream popularity will latch onto this like a flea to a dog, claiming the band as the "real deal" in rock and roll.

    After repeated listenings of this, I have to wonder if this band is a joke. The back of the CD says this:
    "We Don't Believe In The Future! We Live For The Moment! Dance To The Sound Of Right Now!"
    It's almost like they're admitting they're a flavor of the week. Further puzzlement arouses from the this quote on the liner notes:
    "No Art Was Used In The Making Of This Album!"
    It's hard not to agree. This, at it's core, is 11 songs of cut-rate garage rock that ends before a half hour passes, so you don't get worn out on it too soon. Download the MP3s and decide for yourselves - I'm still not sure if I'm passing on this yet or not.

    MP3s
    Shake! Shake! Scream!
    Last Chance For Action!
    No More Dancing!
    Out With The Old! In With The New!