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10/07/04
This record by Even in Blackouts is a few solid songs short of being an amazing offering. Formed a couple years back by Screeching Weasel's John "Jughead" Pierson, the six-piece rock the acoustic guitars to the poppy gleam of classic pop-punk. And thus, the band can rock without electricity and so the moniker. Pierson initially believed the band only do live shows, but then they decided to capture the music on tape with their debut Myths & Imaginary Magicians, which is now being reissued with distro on Lookout. Helped by uber-producer Mass Giorgini, Even in Blackouts collect seventeen tracks for Zeitgeist's Echo for tiny Patchogue, NY Knock Knock Records. Although this is only Knock Knock's sixth release over the course of a few years, none have disappointed and this one is probably the best. When Even in Blackouts is blasting a standard poppy song, they are purely unstoppable. But when they do some of their random shit on the record, it drags the whole thing down. The record begins with a light country minute and the first real song is the third track, "Dear Resonance." When lead singer Lizzie Eldredge is singing full-on, she sounds like Cinder Block from Tilt and it increasingly adds to the band's pop punk allure. "Dear Resonance" is followed by the awesome "In A Letter Never Sent." "In A Letter Never Sent" features both Eldredge and Pierson singing and some wicked cool lead guitar about halfway through. After these first two songs, you are convinced Even in Blackouts are some of the best shit you?ve ever heard. After the average "If (This Title Is Very Long),? they do a surprisingly refinishing cover of "One Fine Day." Often I gag at such contemporary covers, see Copeland's recent EP but this one will get your foot tapping. The bridge on "Song For Remembrance" saves it from being common, while "The Writer" is definitely skippable. With "The Writer" the record drops off a cliff with the non-inspiring closing seven tracks. It is sort of like they forgot what they were actually doing. Though the heavily country-driven "Darling You" is pleasant, the others are terrible. The record is only thirty-nine minutes long, but they could have cut out a bunch of filler here and made it noticeably shorter; which in turn would allow more space for their outstanding numbers. Again, the band is designed to be experienced live, so if they come through your town, check them out.
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