The joke hasn't yet worn thin for
the Ergs, but the seams might be starting to show a bit. The Jersey pop-punk trio's second full-length album isn't exactly a bid for mature artistic credibility, but it's notably less willfully silly than what has come before, and frankly, some of the jokier topics feel a little stale. Songs about Isaac Asimov fanboyism ("2nd Foundation") and recycling clichés derived from The Music Man ("Trouble in River City") aren't exactly the height of cleverness. On the plus side, however,
the Ergs' knack for ultra-speedy, ultra-catchy pop-punk tunes in the best tradition of
the Ramones,
Undertones, and
Queers continues unabated: these 15 tracks get knocked out in a breathless half-hour of breakneck tempos and ramalama melodies topped with the group's trademark silly/smart lyrics. Picking individual highlights of an album designed to rush past in a breathless, geeky blur is a fool's errand, but the gloriously bratty "Books About Miles Davis" is a particular gem. ~ Stewart Mason