Posted on: May 18, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Pretty much the only straight-forward punk band that I’ve had a chance to review for ‘Sup, The Bronx play a form of punk that is heavily influenced by the late eighties California hardcore scene. Blasting through three songs in less than eight minutes, the picture EP begins with the utterly forgettable title track, Bats! Minor amounts of melody rear their tiny heads during their “You Want to See Us Burn”, which Matt screams out in a vocal mode not unlike that of Marco from Raised Fist. The third track, in proper faction, is the cover of The Saints’ “Private Affair”. The cover is pretty much straight-on from the original, being pretty in-line for The Bronx, who only modify the original with more pop-punky drum beats during the chorus.

None of the tracks from The Bronx are truly that groundshaking or even that catchy. Three tracks go by much too fast before I could have a concrete opinion about the band, and their musical style seem askew, like a Hollywood band taking up the name of an East Coast city. With songs that sound the same, not even trying to delineate themselves enough to make the fact that there are three tracks on this disc, The Bronx are really setting themselves up to fair. Even a cover of a legendary punk band cannot pull this disc out of the mediocrity that it has mired itself in. Perhaps these three tracks were just filler to sate fans before the release of their self-titled LP, which will hit stores in mid-August.

While none of the instrumentation is weak, the guitar lines are all pretty much the same few chords, repeated for all to hear numerous times during each track on the disc. The drumming is straight-forward, just playing to accompany the rest of the band, instead of really finding his own sound. Screaming out all the vocals, Matt doesn’t explore anything besides flirting with hoarseness and scratching up his vocal chords.

Top Tracks : None

The Bronx – Bats! / 3 Tracks / 2003 Tarantulas Records / http://www.thebronxxx.com/ / http://www.tarantulasrecords.com / Reviewed 28 July 2003 / Released 15 July 2003

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