What is it about punk kids from New Jersey? Something about the overpopulation, traffic, bad attitudes, smog, turnpikes, and accents turns out some fantastic music. Lifetime, Bouncing Souls, Saves The Day’s first couple of albums, Gaslight Anthem, Thursday’s first album, and… yeah I guess even the Misfits at times. Static Radio NJ seem to have let things get to them, blended and bottled it, and crammed it into roughly 27 minutes worth of music. These guys are angry, passionate, and ready to get to the point.

Just about every review of these guys has at some point compared them to Kid Dynamite, and it’s not far off. Breakneck speeds on both drums and guitars with a little bit angrier vocal styling and you are there. While I felt KD kept within the same musical boundaries, Static Radio attempt to set themselves apart with a more varied songwriting approach: hardcore breakdown (“Bothered”), anthemic singalong (“Fin”), moderate rocker (“Green Hoodie”), and off-timed thrash (“Standing Still”).

While the comparisons will likely continue to remain on this release, Static Radio are a fresh breath in a music world currently filled with drivel passed off as “punk” music. A definite immediate contender for “year end” lists, P.A. rotation between bands at shows, and the soundtrack to your next afternoon spent in line at the DMV.

Genre: Punk/Hardcore

RIYL: Kid Dynamite, Shook Ones, Paint It Black

Label: Black Numbers

Marc

Marc.mp3

Places

Places.mp3

www.myspace.com/staticradio