Project 27 - Smarten Up

There was a point in my life where I (unwisely) turned my back on almost all things "punk." I think it was during 10th or 11th grade. At this point, I'm not entirely sure. Either way, I don't know if it was a completely misguided attempt to look "sophisticated" or some bullshit like that, but it's a time period in my life that I can only shake my head at now. If it had continued, I probably would have missed out on a ton of albums that are just as fun as Project 27's Smarten Up.

On this album, the production is uber-slick, the chord progressions are at times incredibly elementary, and the lyrics are questionable at times. However, all of this is just fine. In my Top 20 of 2008 list, I talked about Teenage Bottlerocket's complete lack of bullshit when it comes to songwriting, how awesome I find their 1-2-3-4, three chords, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, out format. The same formula basically applies here, except Project 27 are a lot more prone to tinkering around in the studio. On top of straightforward pop-punk, vocal harmonies are slathered like a thick layer of butter on toast. It's all instantly sing-a-long-able and pretension free. Drummer Joey Mac penned most of the lyrics here, and although they aren't about any topics not already tread in this genre, they're still personal enough to not be considered anywhere close to generic.

Till Plains played with these guys this past summer, and I have to say, they're a band where you have to take their live experience and combine it with the album to truly appreciate them. All of bassist Richie Roast's parts are clear on the album, and are surprisingly intricate, considering the genre. Live, I never really noticed this.

There is probably only one truly cringe-worthy moment on this album, and that's on the song "My Future," with its totally wanky guitar parts. It's really hard to hold this against them, though.

At the same time, the album doesn't last long enough for you to get tired of it, which is an admirable aspect.

So, here are two things I can say to sum up this album:

1) This is the kind of pop-punk I wish people were making when I was in high school. I will never, ever, understand the appeal of all that nu-emo garbage that magazines like Alternative Press try to shove down the throats of people everywhere. All it is is boy-bands with guitars. But, then again, if you bother to even read this blog, I doubt you're even into that kind of music, so I'm probably preaching to the choir.

2) I'd like to thank Project 27 for making this album, as it brightened up this dismally cold Boston evening considerably.

Side note: I haven't dug that far into Rally Records' catalog, but this is the second Rally album I've bought that features very cursory organ work, along with The Leftovers' On The Move. Is there an in-house organ player that has to make appearances on every Rally release?

-Erik