Complaints about The Problem with Kids Today are likely to fall on deaf ears, a possible cause of hearing loss traced to the roaring, yet undeniably tuneful and addicting, racket of Take It! Third in the line of succession, the latest album from the brash, young trio blasts off in an energetic mash-up of U.K. mod uprisings and catchy, full-throttle American pop-punk that should have burned down the shed where the record was birthed.
In true DIY fashion, the Connecticut powerhouse turned an outbuilding into a homegrown studio, going rogue with a friend, Joe LeMieux, to record the raucous LP on their own and set it free into the wild. Without supervision, inmates Tate Brooks, Reena Yu and Silas Lourenco-Lang run the asylum, playing with reckless abandon, unabashed exuberance and remarkably sharp precision, completely losing themselves in “loud fast rules” meltdowns that are fleeting but explosive and entertaining.
Knives out, carving well-defined hooks that survive intense, guitar-centric blazes, The Problem with Kids Today set out to merrily spike the punk punchbowl, their melodic outbursts recalling the infectious blow-ups of The Buzzcocks, The Undertones and The Rezillos, as well as those set off stateside by The Ramones and The Descendents. Free of vitriol, the hyperactive trio shifts into a supercharged “Spongebob SquarePants and Patrick Star,” which holds a hopped-up cartoon TV party under the sea, and hits the ground running with a garage-y, overdriven “Ace Starchild” – screaming and howling about seeing KISS live and being in awe of their look and sound.
Overstimulated and scrambling excitedly, they bash out an ecstatic “Feelin’ Alright,” which reaches a frenzied fever pitch following the equally delirious “Anymore,” with its slight U.K. accent, singing of “… taking the high road” and being sick of the low. Occasional shouting and squirrelly exhortations advertise that they are, indeed, a punk band at heart, as “Hillsborough Disaster 1989” grabs hold of Amyl and the Sniffers’ feisty, mean groove and doesn’t let go, while “The Beginning of the End of the World” and “I Dunno” betray a stronger pop sensibility. The Problem with Kids Today embrace the idea of going back to basics, emphasizing simple chords and song structures and letting it rip. Damn the torpedoes, it’s full steam ahead for them.
