If you can’t find a decent pop-punk hiding out in the back-streets and garages of the Pacific Northwest, then you might as well give up. And while Jerkazoid might seem the obvious band to find crawling out of Portland,Oregon’s grassroots scene, what makes them so appealing is their sense of musical history.
Pop-punkers who seem enamored by bands such as Blink 182 and Sum 41 are two a penny, but the fact that Earth in Reverse, Jerkazoid’s debut album, seems more fuelled by the influence of bands like Lagwagon, NOFX and the godfathers of alternative rock, Descendents, is what makes them stand head and shoulders above the pop-punk posse by numbers. (Is this the right time to mention that last year I watched ‘Wagon’s Joey Cape wielding guitar for *Me First and the Gimme Gimmes? No, okay, no problem.)
Anyway, the point is that Jerkazoid sound like they mean it, unbothered by following fashion or keeping up with style; Earth in Reverse is the sound of a band going back to the source for inspiration. Take “Six Minutes Away,” the sound of a band almost being driven over the edge as they surf an almost out-of-control beat, but that jeopardy and chaos is what makes it all work so well. No formulaic punk, no pop pandering, it’s wild, man!
“Big Dumb Bitch” is more classic rock than pop-punk, reminding me more of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (yes, I’m old) than the soundtrack to skate park shenanigans. “Cops Don’t Rock” sounds massive, and the title track is the perfect balance of pop-punk bounce and searing alt-rock salvos.
Yes, there are more obvious, genre-adhering pieces such as “Fake Friends” and “King of the Middle of Nowhere,” and they are great songs. But I prefer the ones where they are really digging deep, pushing boundaries, and finding their own sound, a new sound, a sound that links the past to today. That, for me at least, is where their future lies.
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