After a few years of releasing EPS and singles, Toronto’s Sixteen Scandals have released a proper album, Nothing to C Here. At 10 tracks, and a little over 20 minutes in run time, the album plays a bit like an EP; so much so that the band has even described the release as “a double EP if you wanna be fancy.”

In those 20 minutes, the band gives a nice mix of hook-filled punk, garage rock, and even some goof-off hardcore riffs (the song “Arr, Here B Riffs” is a great title explaining the latter). It’s a mix that works at times, but more often than not feels just like a loose collection of tracks thrown together.

“Middle C” is a standout track with a cool guitar riff and a super catchy, anthemic chorus. It also plays as the companion to the album’s penultimate song “Nice to C It All Come Together.” Those two songs side-by-side are really fun, and represent the band at its tightest. Though beyond those cohesive songs, it’s a mixed bag.

“C is for Collaboration” is an acoustic-led song about being in a small local rock band, the good and the bad, but with tongue firmly in cheek. It works. “Cell Block C” is a lo-fi track, this time just being an acoustic guitar and vocals, about why you shouldn’t want to go to prison. This one doesn’t work so well, as it’s just so completely different sonically from the rest of record, it feels shoehorned in at the end recording just to fill up time.

Sixteen Scandals should be commended for placing a song like “Lost at C” right next to “Nothing to C Here,” but the effort gain doesn’t quite pay off. The former is a solid slow burner, while the latter picks up the punk pacing again, but doesn’t have much to add beyond being another fast song.

Nothing to C Here is a perfectly fine release, but it’s not one that has much staying power as a full album. It could have been two decent EPs though, I think.