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by Oliver Lyons
 RIVERDALES
- Tarantula (Recess Records)
So either I owe Ben, Vapid, and Co. an apology for my review
of the last Riverdales album or they owe me a big thanks for
convincing them to get the lead out. When I reviewed
Invasion USA for Jersey Beat, I noted that
I didn't care much for the Riverdales since 1995 because what
started out as a Ramonescore novelty act in a time where there
was no such thing had become, in 2010, just another one of
a billion Ramonescore acts proliferating the globe. And really,
what's the point? Also, Invasion USA was basically fourteen
tracks of tuneless dumbness. Well, Tarantula is everything
Invasion USA wasn't - catchy, hook-laden, and essentially
all the things I once loved about the Riverdales. Yes, the
songs are still based around titles to MST3K episodes, but
compared to Invasion USA's formula ("title of
song- yeah, yeah - title of song!"), the songs off Tarantula
are actually well thought out pop punk gems. I did not
expect my foot to be tapping along to songs like "The
Beginning of the End", "Diabolik", "Crash
of the Moons", and "Time Chaser" after only
one listen but I'll be dammed if I wasn't singing along before
the disc (erm...mp3's) even ended. The Riverdales still fly
the Ramones flag high, only on Tarantula they move
past the first four Ramones records and dig a bit into Road
to Ruin and Halfway to Sanity for inspiration;
which is fine by me, because mid to late period Ramones songs
have always been my favorite anyway. Is that blasphemy? I
don't care. All I care about is that when they set their minds
to it, Ben Weasel and Danny Vapid are still two of the greatest
pop punk songwriters of all time; and when they're on their
'A' game, it's like it's still 1995. And that's nostalgia
I'm willing to indulge.
JerseyBeat.com
is an independently published music fanzine
covering punk, alternative, ska, techno and garage
music, focusing on New Jersey and the Tri-State
area. For the past 25 years, the Jersey Beat music
fanzine has been the authority on the latest upcoming
bands and a resource for all those interested in
rock and roll.
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