Former Theologian bands seem to have a way of blowing up, or at least being fairly successful on other labels. With this latest release Pseudo Heroes seem to be ready to join the ranks of bands like The Deviates, Pennywise, and 98 Mute(no, they don't sound like any of those bands, so forget whatever clever brocore joke you were thinking of).

This band has already been compared to Jawbreaker and Hüsker Dü, while I don't think they've quite reached that level yet, this album is still pretty damn good. Pseudo Heroes show us that it is possible to be both aggressive and slightly poppy without being another boring "screamo" band. While this record is punk, it still manages to be different and refreshing at the same time. This band can pull off fast, almost hardcore tinged songs ("Bad Show", a humorous tune about what happens when your band simply isn't up to par, "if I was in the crowd I'd heckle us so loud"), straight up punk rock with Bad Religious vocal harmonization ("Conspiracy"), pop tinged/acoustic rock ("I Know What You Need"), death metal/punk ("Dead Or Alive"), and the list goes on. Yeah, this stuff is all over the place.

Aside from all the style changing insanity there are loads of guest appearances. You'll hear from Kam Lee (Death), John Stabb (Government Issue), Jerry A. (Poison Idea), Lee Dorrian (Napalm Death), Blaine Cook (The Accused), Chris Barrows (Pink Lincolns), and Dave Smalley (you should know). That's an odd list, but the Pseudo Heroes are an odd band, so it's fitting.

According to the band they're influenced by everyone from Cheap Trick to Morbid Angel, and it shows on this extremely varied disc. If you're looking for a punk band that isn't afraid to experiment or color outside the lines then look no further. Pseudo Heroes have really created something different here, and if this is any indication, expect this band to make a lot of noise in the future.

Hereditary Fault MP3