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The Ordinary:
Don't Let Me Die a Waiter EP
I think Im fairly pleased with this release from New Yorks new scene-breakers, The Ordinary. Straight from the mean streets, this is their debut EP, and it creates just enough of a wake to trap you. At times it brings a little bit of the cheese along with its presence and maybe a bit of the cock-rock bite, but its a good first effort. The EP sounds as though its meant as a punk venture, but unfortunately theyve thrown any hope of that out the window by including mention of a video outreach program for MTV in the press kit. Not too impressive, but Ill try not to hold it against them. The last track revolves around a Johnny Rotten sneered vocal line and guitar pummeling attack, but it cuts off right there just as its starting to get interesting. In the majority of the tracks, there is a heavy dose of the Blake Schwarzenbach vibe, circa Jawbreaker times. Pretty impressive; its been done, but man, how Ive missed it! The lyrics are decent, as the singers on a spitting, curled-lip crusade to track down the truth and embrace it. The result is not too emotionally exhaustive, but more of a fuck-you type of attitude. The bass is thick and way out front, and it kicks off the songs very well with a splitting drum beat as the rest of the band falls into place. The melodies are just catchy enough to launch it into pop orbit, but the chugging, flicked guitars keep it grounded and loud. The production is actually pretty high quality, somewhat rare for a debut small label EP; each instrument is prominent in its own right, but not so pretentious that it slaps on the layers of over-produced gloss that are in heavy rotation these days. Wrapping up this sucker, so I can wander to the bar: I give it a good effort. These guys could go in any direction at this point. Itd be easy to jump on the pop-punk bandwagon and ride a 5-year prescribed high, but itd be just as easy to slip back to roots and remain in the club circuit. Good luck.
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