Wiretap Records – 6 June 2021
Power pop punkers drop debut album
I first heard of Talk Show Host when they released “This Monologue” as a stand-alone single at the end of 2020. And really, I kind of lucked into hearing about them at all, as the random stranger I ended up following on Twitter because of our shared love for French punk bands turned out to be the bassist for Talk Show Host. But after hearing that song, I knew I had to hear more (and not just because the music video for it featured the band throwing tennis balls against a school wall and eating tacos– two of my favorite hobbies).
Mid-Century Modern is Talk Show Host's debut album and first release with Wiretap Records (though they have a few EPs under their belt, dating back to 2016). They've been sitting on the record for a bit, as they started recording in the second half of 2019. Anticipation for the LP has been high, as they began releasing what turned out to be three singles leading up to the June release day.
The first single (which happens to be the second song on Mid-Century Modern) is “Blood In The Sand,” a catchy, poppy jam that seems timed perfectly now that summer is upon us. Power-pop with a big chorus and plenty of “oh-oh-oh-oh's” to help encourage participation from listeners that don't know all the words yet. The sound continues on “Warmest Condolences”, though the twist is that this time, the words touch on the darker theme of police violence. Starting off with “I don't know what happened / It just went off in my hand“, it doesn't pull any punches and seems tragically timely.
What makes the record so compelling is how quickly Talk Show Host can change the topic and mood, while staying on (and pushing the boundaries of) the power-pop/pop-punk spectrum. Much darker than the aforementioned songs that it's sandwiched between, “Crisis Actors” has a hauntingly grim chorus and ominous ending, while the indie-tinged “Sorry, My Mistake” sounds like a Weezer b-side from whatever record of theirs that you liked (in a good way).
And while I would definitely categorize them as a pop-punk band, singer Chris Veinot's lyrics seem like an outlier for a genre that is sometimes content to cover little more than breakups and bad days. Whether Veinot is crooning “I did not sell my soul / I left it on the streetcar home / And I got nothing in return” on “Syntnax Error OK” or screaming “Too many problems / And not enough dynamite” on “Too Many Problems”, he's able to convey humor, introspection, cynicism, and a gamut of other feelings that compliment the group's sound.
I'm not sure if there are many groups that would be a good comparison to them. Sometimes I catch a few notes that remind me of a Joey Cape band, like if The Playing Favorites wanted to be more upbeat, or if Bad Astronaut wasn't so sad. Contemporarily, they'd fit well on a bill with Odd Robot and Decent Criminal. Comparisons aside, if Talk Show Host wanted to prove that pop-punk can combine great storytelling and modern themes while being catchy as hell, Mid-Century Modern is compelling evidence. As far as debut albums go, it's one of my favorites in recent memory.