Erik Reviews With The Punches - Keep It Going EP

Erik wrote:

With the Punches- Keep It Going EP

With the Punches is throwback. With a do-it-yourself ethos, the four bandmates are taking pop-punk back to the days when songs had meaning and fashion trends weren’t the barometers for the success of a band. With their lead-in EP, Keep It Going, the band infuses an honest hardcore sound into an energetic, pop-punk feel to create a seven-track, fists-in-the-air anthematic record.

Shouts of “let’s go!” open the album with a bang in leadoff track “Don’t Catch a Brick,” a strong opener that sets the tone for what is sure to be a summer jam. The second track, “Thrill Your Idols” keeps up the energy and features lead singer Jesse Vadala’s one-of-a-kind, top-of-his-lungs voice. Over resounding New Found Glory-like guitar lines, clever lyrics like “I’m not sure if it happened over night/But when I woke up, the world didn’t fit me right” ring out for a three-minute, mosh-friendly anthem.
The one clear standout track on the album is “Burned at Both Ends.” The guitar riff sets the pace for an enormously enthusiastic song, full of vocal harmonies, “whoas” and “yeahs,” and, right when the listener least expects it, a poppy breakdown that fits in all too well. “Burned” is tailor-made for singing-along on a long drive, and if you don’t air-guitar along with Dustin Wallace and his slick breakdown, you must have superhuman restraint.

“Stick and Move” derives from the usual pop-punk playbook, with rampant guitars, gritty, heartfelt vocals , and a shoutout to one of the bands most influential predecessors, Lifetime. The last two songs, “Slizzard Crossing (You’re Doing It All Wrong),” and the self-titled “Keep it Going,” are call-outs against suburban complacency, following the same formula as the prior five songs, and with good reason. If it isn’t broken, there is no reason to fix it, and With the Punches have come up with a winning blueprint.
With just one listen of this EP, you will want to hit replay to “keep it going,” and in no time you will be rolling With the Punches. With a second EP on the way and a new song entitled “Dead Weight” hitting the airwaves, With the Punches is ready to break out.

Thanks to Dustin and Jesse for the band information. Check out With the Punches at www.myspace.com/withthepunches and check out Dustin’s Guitar Project http://dustinscustomguitar.tumblr.com/ to endorse the band.