Colorado's
Animo credit a D.I.Y. philosophy for inspiring both their pop-punk sound and a defining anecdote from the start of their career, which saw them driving all the way to New Mexico to stalk the founders of the Vans Warped Tour and finagling a slot in its notoriously bulging lineup, in exchange for unpaid road crew work. This tale speaks volumes about both the simplicity and naïveté intrinsic to their spirited pop-punk sound. Already exposed at length on their debut,
One Hope One Mind, the previous year, this sound is reprised on their 2008 sophomore album,
Blood in the Water. Here, cuts like "The Addiction" and "Last Letter Home" use the familiar building blocks that put hitmakers
blink-182 and
Sum 41 into proverbial gingerbread mansions. On the mildly interesting "Left Out (Between the Sheets)," singer Schuyler Akele seems to be miming along to
Green Day's
Billie Joe Armstrong. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia