Cleveland, Ohio punk rockers, the Sidekicks are Brendan Kelly's favorite band right now and Red Scare's newest addition. To be honest, this was about as much solid information I could dig up on this young trio. But with Tin Armor and Ghost Town Trio listed in their top MySpace friends, I correctly anticipated a competent musical contribution.

After thoroughly taking in one complete spin of So Long, Soggy Dog, my first thought was, "I bet this would be a good band to see live." While I have heard no show reviews concerning these performers, the straightforward, no-frills yet talented delivery of music can be easily envisioned to reproduce well onstage.

Most of the songs come off with the intensity and gruffness reminiscent of bands like Rivethead, Banner Pilot and Hot Water Music, while others have a more downtrodden ambiance similar to that of Gaslight Anthem or even Lucero.

Without having a lot of background information, I am not going to make any judgments on what I think is motivating this music. What I will tell you is that this is an album I am surprised to have not heard more about in its one month on the scene.

If you are a fan of any of the abovementioned "sounds like" bands, you definitely need to give the Sidekicks a listen. I have listened to this album multiple times and it is holding up well in my iPod rotation.