LP review: The Riptides – “Burn After Listening”

Pirates Press Records – 07 Mar 2025

The Riptides return from the dead to reclaim their place among the pop punk elite. 

The best pop punk records are like ‘80s slasher movies. There’s lots of violence, cheap thrills, crude laughs, and plenty of tits and ass. That was largely the blueprint for the first few The Riptides records. That formula worked well, but it seems like everybody grows up eventually. The Riptides’ debut album for Pirates Press Records definitely shows the band’s previously (mostly) unexplored serious side. 

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since The Riptide’s last LP, the relatively happy-go-lucky Canadian Graffiti, way back in 2017. Burn After Listening finds the Ottawa, Ontario band contemplating a darker future. That’s not to say the record’s overly bleak. It’s just that for the first time the quantity and quality of light-hearted songs is matched by the topically heavier ones.

Brothers and band stalwarts Andy (vocals) and Bob (bass) also bring a ton of friends along for the ride. Kody Templeman (of The Lillingtons and Teenage Bottlerocket) is the official guitar player. Darren Chewka (Teenage Bottlerocket) plays drums. Joe King (The Queers) and Mike Kennerty (All-American Rejects, Screeching Weasel) contribute lead guitar. Matt DeeCRACK, from Austrian labelmates DeeCRACKS, helps out a bit with songwriting. 

The three songs that open Burn After Listening largely set the stage for what’s to come. “We Came to Destroy” starts things off with an angry blast. “Smile” contemplates putting on a happy face as the world is crumbling. “End of the World” is pretty self explanatory. “Bad Habit” and “She’s the Most” tread the more familiar songs-about-girls pop punk path. “Cut It Out” is like a long lost Ramones demo from 1976. “Anti-Social” is as hostile as anything The Riptides have done. Side A closer “My Heart’s Tattooed On My Sleeve” is quintessential Riptides, ernest and melodic. 

There’s a similar pacing on side B. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” is a cry for help in a world gone mad. “Give Up” and “LIe to Me” are boy-loses-girl songs. “Get Over You” is a classic male/female duet with Merel Schaap from Sweatpants Party. “The One Thing” is a relatively sentimental punk love song. “Bottom Feeder” is almost a hardcore song. Record closer “Face to Black” might be the strongest track. It combines both the optimism and pessimism of the 14 songs that preceded it. 

To go back to the ‘80s slasher movie analogy, the best of the bunch were always the ones with the biggest body count, or most gruesome, creative kills. Other greats usually included an unexpected plot twist. That’s the way Burn After Listening Feels. The kills are the great songs, and the plot twist is the darker tone. Like an indestructible slayer inexplicably rising from the grave, The Riptides have returned to remind the world that they belong at the top of the pop punk heap. 

For vinyl fiends. Pretty limited first pressing, so don’t sleep on this one. 250 copies on Tide Pod Marble vinyl, and 250 on aqua blue. Nice full color artwork and a full color 12” by 24” poster/lyric insert.