Record Label: Victory Records
Genre:
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I didn’t like the last Catch 22 album “Dinosaur Sounds,” but I’ve never been a big fan of Catch 22 anyway. The Keasbey Nights album is declared brilliant among ska punk fans for some odd reason and I just don’t see why. Back then, I thought the band was a generic NJ ska punk band, and still kind of feel that way. Their sound just seems a bit cluttered back then. I thought the band sounded their best around the “Alone in the Crowd” & “Washed Up” days. To me, it seems Catch 22 are still trying to find their sound, and go all over the place. One minute they play ska, then its punk, and then they experiment with hardcore music. Pick something and stick with it perhaps? Although, the band plays their music more tightly now and doesn’t sound as cluttered. I think the horns sound ten times better than they did back with their first album. Unfortunately, I can’t stand the singer’s voice in the current lineup.

I guess this album is some sort of concept album? It’s all about the Russian Bolshevik movement and Leon Trotsky’s life & death. Hmm ok, they are getting all Decemberists on us now. Permanent Revolution starts out with a piano cue and then the singer goes into his thing, and sends a shiver down my spine. I’m sorry; the guy just doesn’t fit to be a singer. He doesn’t sound bad on the faster songs but when he actually tries to sing, it just feels awkward. He does sound better than the last album, I’ll give him that. The first 2 songs aren’t that strong, and the third track is ok. It’s named “Party Song,” which is either a spoof on date movies, or they are trying to get that song in one. The album doesn’t get good until “The Decembrists Song” and I surprisingly like the next 2 songs as well. But then they play some slow, acoustic song and it doesn’t sound right to me. I’m sure everyone out there will praise this album but I just didn’t like it that much. The songs I actually did like were sporadic throughout the album and the ones I didn’t were all in between.

Bottom Line: I like the concept album approach but I can’t get pass the vocals.
Notable Tracks: Decembrists Song, A Minor Point, On the Black Sea
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