I simply cannot stand anymore when any new or relatively new band that has a punk pop tendency is compared to Green Day as if those guys invented anything that has to do with a pinky attitude in pop. Let alone the fact that I don’t even like Green Day. I’m sure that the second album by West Virginia guys Rozewell Kid will go through the Green Day test. And they shouldn’t. First of all, Rozewell Kid and their songwriter and frontman Jordan Hudkins have obviously dipped his ears in much more than Green Day - like the Ramones (to whom Green Day owe more or less everything), Cheap Trick and some test West Coast style harmonies. And just by those fact I’m free to say that on their second album Precious Art Rozwell Kid have come up with much better music than Green Day will ever do.
Now before some flak is thrown my way, maybe you should take a listen. The twelve track have their ebb and flow, and it is obvious that the band didn’t simply run into the studio, turned on the tape machines (or computers, or whatever) and whipped out that obligatory one, two three four… The moment the opener Wendy’s Trash Can jump in with its Ramones beat and Cheap Trick style guitar attack, backed by some mean harmonies, you know you’re in for a treat. Brilliant paced tracks like that one dominate the album - UHF on DVD, Blow It or the closer Michael Keaton (on the surface, dealing with his Batman role), and none of them slip into any kind of formulaic music. Each has its identifiable head and tail. But, that is not where Hudkins and Rozwell Kid limit themselves. More, shall I say gentle tracks like Futon, Mad TV and Gameball, add a new dimension to the band’s sound, while the brief ditty South By, shows that the band has new things in store for the future.
Oh, and a word about Hudkins’ lyrics. On the surface, it might sound like he’s simply covering the usual post-teenage themes of despair and ennui, but it is also obvious that he knows exactly what both of those words mean and how to use them to express what he wants to say. In brief, great things are to be expected from these guys.
