Lost At The Party stands as proof that punk rockers don't always feel compelled to color within the same lines and in black and white. It also is a damn fine album.
Bay Area rockers Terry Malts made their name playing wall-of-sound punk with thick veins of melody and decorated with sweet pop hooks. They called it buzzsaw pop, and it was a accurate a description as it was a clever musical term. Their songs were a joyful rush of Ramones meet Buzzcocks meet The Undertones and I played them every time I need an energy lift or injection of defiance. But for this, their third album, the band had something different in mind -- different, and more. The pace varies from the frenetic bashing of earlier recordings to mid-tempo, and even slower at times. The dynamic range is greater over all instruments and the vocals, and the emotional content of the material is greater (or at least, more accessible). If I had to pick only one genre tag for Lost At The Party, it would be power pop, albeit power pop with a sharp edge. And while that generally is true, it dramatically undersells the delights to be found in the eleven tracks. So, to continue with the opening analogy, Lost At The Party is what you get if the band that always used a pencil to create drawings in black, white, and shades of grey on 8x11 paper opened a drawer, pulled out a box of 80 colored pencils and a big canvas and said "now we'll show them what we can do". You showed us, Terry Malts, and we like it a lot.
For Lost At The Party Terry Malts are Corey Cunningham (guitar), Phil Benson (bass and vocals), Nathan Sweatt (drums), and Jake Sprecher (guitar). The album is out today via Slumberland Records. You can stream it at the Bandcamp link below.
Website
Slumberland Records page for album
Bandcamp for album
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