Sharkanoid – “Have A Great Summer”
Album Reviews | Oct 27th, 2014
Record Label: Community Records
Genre: Punk
Deciding to take a quick breather from the ska scene, Dan Potthast (MU330, Dan P and the Bricks) and Rick Johnson (Mustard Plug) got together and formed a pop punk band. Who’da thunk it?
Although this is slightly different than what most followers of those two third wave pioneers would expect, it is actually a pretty good album from start to finish. With Dan doing most of the vocals, it really sounds a lot like MU330 just without the ska sound. The sound reminds me of a mix of the MU330, Groovie Ghoulies, Avoid One Thing and the RAMONES.
The lyrics seem to focus on personal events and friends. None of the songs are overly complicated or will fry your brain with deep introspective thought, but they are catchy and fun with just the right amount of snarky wit that fans of Dan P. will be familiar with. Songs like “Seriously Sarah” and “Michelle” are perfect examples of this.
“Have A Great Summer” runs short at a little over 24 minutes, but just about every minute of it is entertaining. As I mentioned before, this is not what one would expect from two members of prominent ska bands, but I’ve always enjoyed the unexpected and “Have A Great Summer” has become one of my unexpected favorites of the year so far. If you’re looking for a ska side project then you’ll have to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for some good old fashioned pop punk rock and roll, look no further…Sharkanoid will be right up your alley.
Bottom Line: A really good pop punk album from two veterans of the third wave ska scene. They do play in ska PUNK bands ya know!
Notable Tracks: Michelle, Seriously Sarah, Bradley, Fall Into Shame, Philip
Overall Rating:
