REVIEW: TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET: FREAK OUT!

GENRE | TOP GUN PUNK
LABEL | FAT WRECK CHORDS
The bottlerockets return to their punk rock throne with a Fat sophomore album that rings clean and tight, just as we have come to expect. This album could’ve gone a number of ways to let us down, but it picks up where They Came From the Shadows left off. Their poppy flow becomes less of a love letter to skateboarding, but the KISS bashing continues. They reveal their love of a little TLC, in the form of cuffs and collars on the previously released “Mutilate Me,” one of the punchiest tracks. All around the rhythmic riffs and biting lyrics show playful belligerence.

They fluidly transition from songs about pervy creeps with pristinely combed hair in suburban malls to heartfelt harmonies crooning over a love like that of Goose and Maverick from Top Gun. There’s a similar vibe to their previous releases, being über crisp and well paced. This fills the listener with giddy, hyperventilated joy like they’ve just bolted down a slip ‘n’ slide. Track to track the fun continues on Freak Out with a snide smirk.