The Switch-Ups -“The Switch-Ups”

Album Reviews | May 30th, 2004

No Image
Sorry Folks, No Image Is Here.

Record Label: Reality Clash Records
Genre:
Band Link:
Buy on Amazon.com link

Judging from the band photo on the back insert, I figured that this would be another one of those hardcore albums that will find me turning something else on after about three songs. That’s why you should never judge a book by its cover. The Switch-Ups play good old-fashioned punk N’ roll music. These guys still look pretty tough so watch your backs fellas.

Cezar, the vocalist/lead guitarist has a unique sounding voice that somehow seems to mix well with the style of music that the Switch-Ups play. I’m reminded of some older Honest Don bands like Hagfish or Fluf. As I mentioned before, the music is more of a rock and roll sound kind of like earlier Social Distortion but the band also manages to switch it up (pun intended) with some faster punk songs. My favorite thing about this album is the guitar work. There are some really good lead parts and quite a few rockin’ solos dabbled throughout the album. The other band members should not be forgotten either. The bass parts range from a rock sound to rockabilly to straight up punk and back again and the drums are always steady and on the mark. The disc is a pretty decent length with 11 songs at almost 40 minutes.

If I had one gripe about this album, it would be that some of the songs seem stretched out and could have ended about a minute sooner on a few occasions. Other than that, I was impressed with the Switch-Ups self titled disc and enjoyed listening to something a little bit different than fast punk or slow emo-not-so-rock. The Switch-Ups were a pretty good listen from a label that I’ve never heard of.

Bottom Line:
Notable Tracks: Double Dose, Rock N’ Roll, Never Change, The War Song
Overall Rating: