Hey Pizza! Records, August 7, 2020
Laidbacks like their music catchy. Try not getting this stuff stuck in your head.
Laidbacks second record, shockingly titled 2, is a five song EP that delivers the Ramonescore pop punk goods with singalongs, buzzing tempos, and even some 80’s-style synths. 2 is a catchy fun good time with more hits than misses.
Laidbacks seem pretty well practiced at hitting the right Ramones notes. 8th-note hi-hats, buzzsaw guitar riffs, and unadorned but affected vocals are the name of the game here, and most importantly, 2 has the songs. Of the five songs, four of them are a great time by my estimation (even including a song that goes a solid two and a half minutes past my normal attention span). My favorite is the opener, “It’s Ok”. It’s got all I need: cool buzzsaw guitar riffs, simple straightforward drums, and melodic hooky vocals. It’s pretty hard to listen to this without finding it endearing. The backing vocals sound pretty cool, too. They’re sort of reverbed out into the ether, but sound great. “Bedwetter” is another awesome song. It’s really Ramones-y in structure and the lead vocals are pretty reminiscent of Joey. The song has a fun bounce and my favorite song title on the record. The other two awesome songs are sort of opposites. “Love Song” is a great quick fast song with an easy cool guitar hook and some great vocal melodies, over and done in forty-four seconds. It’s sort of opposite, “Summer’s Gone”, goes for four and a half minutes. But the catchy earworms, fun female vocals, and synths add some great pop touches and holds my attention throughout. It sort of reminds me of Ramones “Something To Believe In”.
The only song that is just okay for me is “I Still See You”. It checks a lot of boxes similar to “It’s Ok”, but the melody doesn’t land quite as well for me, nor do the backing vocals. It’s got a decent rhythmic break that slows things down a bit, but most of it passes by without leaving much of a mark on my brain. Nothing to skip, but nothing to seek out.
2 is a fun EP. By my count, four of the five songs are good-to-great with only one not really hitting the mark. Laidbacks know what they’re doing, and they do it well.
You might like this if:
- You’re ready for another awesome pop punk record with hooks and fun
You might not if:
- You’re wanting lots more edge with your punk rock
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
