Review: Block Parent – “Sick Year, Bro!”

Glue Gun Records – 07 May 2021

90’s-era fast, slightly sloppy (?) punk that’s all grins

I was first introduced to Block Parent when TGEFM covered their split release Take Off Your Pants and Jack Off with Frank Dux last year. I enjoyed that split and the Blink-182 references from it weren’t lost in the fact that Block Parent shares a lot in common with the earlier incarnation of that band. More on that at the end.

Fast-forward to 2021 and Block Parent are back with a new LP Sick Year, Bro! I’m not entirely sure if the title has anything to do with, well, what the last year has been like for most of the world but, hey, it fits and it fits well.

Right from the start you know that Block Parent are sticking 100% with that particular 90s sound that wasn’t EpiFat– the snotpunk of sound championed by early Blink-182 or Assorted Jelly Beans (minus the ska)– a fast and frenetic style of play where it seems like every member of the band is trying to force each other to keep up. While I won’t go track-for-track, I’ll tackle a couple of stand-outs to give you a feel for the lay of the land.

Lead track “Sight for Pink Eyes” dives in with a fun intro that sets the tone for the rest of the album: fast changes, quick riffs and lots and lots of alternating and backing vocals, replete with whoas and ohs that inhabit the entirety of the album.

The second track on the album, “SUBAR,” was also the first single released. It is, in my opinion, hand’s down the top song on the album. There’s a lot to it and you expect something to go wrong at any point, because no band should be allowed to do this much, this fast, and still stick the landing. But like the urban legends of cats falling tens of stories and landing on their feet, Block Parent has done it on this song. Does that mean they’ve burned all of their credit and goodwill two songs into the album? Thankfully not.

Farther in, “Bill’s Bargain Basement” is one of the few songs that brings the tempo down a bit to notable success. There are still fast parts, to be sure, but they are interweaved with catchy low and mid-tempo (for Block Parent, that is) parts that are a joy to listen to.

“Quick Ask Zoe” is likely the most straight-forward fast punk song until a false ending jumps into a whimsical outro that builds into a crescendo of near-screaming before finally finishing out. Penultimate track “Take Part or Die,” the second and most recent single released, starts like what you’d expect to be a musical intro before getting back to the punk, but you’d be wrong, as it keeps it up and you realize that this IS the pattern of the whole song, with occasional flourishes from each instrument to keep things interesting. It could be the bass line, but this song gives me a very strong fIREHOSE meets Hopeless Otis, but angry, feeling.

In some ways that’s really the final track on the album, as the closer is a cover of the song “Stixville, Population 110,000.” That’s originally by Deaf Children Playing but, to be honest, I can’t find the original to compare to, so I’m just gonna run with what I’ve got: The cover features guest vocals by Chelsea Melkert, and plays a bit as a loose, toe-tapping acoustic jam. Partly played for laughs, partly serious (at least in musical performance), it closes out the album on a wildly different note than the rest. Not a bad thing, but more of a lark than anything else.

There aren’t any “low points” on the album, unless you count songs that don’t hit as hard as others. But all of them are fun in their own right, and I found the album to be enjoyable from start to finish. Album of the Year? Sadly not. But Honorable Mention or Album of the Month: Yeah.

Overall the sound is wonderfully “mid-budget.” I don’t know how much they paid to have this album done, but it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a garage on a cassette tape, and it also doesn’t seem like an overblown studio recording where everything is crisp, clean, and grossly perfect. The sound and feel of the album fits the style of music. The bass is not overly bass-y (is that a word?), instead opting for what I like to think as crystal clear, which plays well. Guitars are suitably heavy when needed on palm mutes and chords, but crisp when the sweet lixx come into play. The percussion is nice and solid, with the right amount of oomph to let you know they’re doing their part– not too weak, and not to overpowering. Like I said, it fits the style of music perfectly.

Up near the top I referenced that 90s style, making comparisons to early Blink-182 with the fast pace and the “sloppiness.” So now you may be wondering “well, what’s the difference” or even “what the hell do you mean by that, Jeff?”

That’s just the thing. While that particular blend of 90s-era punk was defined by the fast pace and less-than-perfect mastery of instruments or timing (and I’m not knocking that, just observing), Sick Year, Bro! plays that style well but, and this is an assumption on my part, seems a bit too calculated. Throughout the album you hear what these guys can do on all of their instruments. They’re not slouches, and the perceived sloppiness isn’t really such when you really pay attention. I’m thinking that if they wanted to record a really “tight” album, they’d just go ahead and do it (and probably do it well). But that doesn’t seem what Block Parent wants or, even, really, needs. Block Parent aren’t breaking many molds with this one, and I doubt that it would attract fans outside of the punk genre, but if you like fast and fun with lots of vocals and catchy hooks, this is what you should be listening to.