Posted on: June 25, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Fairly formulaic punk in the vein of early Green Day or Less Than Jake, and the band has seemed to tame their entire sound down from “Henry Rollins is No Fun” and “Best Hung Carrot in The Fridge”. The copious amounts of dope that the band consumed and smoked before this disc makes for some of the most tepid and boring music to come out (even in the over-filled pop-punk category). This is even after the very poppy and spastic “Welcome To The Daiso”, which mixes equal parts Less Than Jake with Screeching Weasel. The transformation of Chixdiggit from a harder-edged ska-punk band to this pop-punk construct seems to me to be similar to the softening of Mr T. Experience’s sound in the last few years – instead of the Ramones, increasing Weezer comes to be more and more of an influence on “Pink Razors”. Some of the snotty original sound of the band comes back in the “Short Music”-timed “Get Down, but before one begins to get into the track the opening strains of the end begin. “You’re Pretty Good” is a paint-by-numbers track that “Geocities Kitty” simultaneously draws and distances itself from.

“Geocities Kitty” uses Misfits, Replacements, and Descendents influences to make for a toe-tapping track that is catchy regardless of era. Even though “J Crew” is only a smidgin over two minutes, the slowed-down, Ann Beretta tempo of the track really makes for a mid-disc lull that Chixdiggit really struggle to reverse the rest of the disc. “Goo Girls” tries to reverse the “J Crew” trend, but the continuing ennui felt on the disc needs longer than a song to be flushed. Even though there are a few tracks that really tend to plod on “Pink Razors”, the disc still ends in a virtual blinking of an eye with slightly more than twenty-five minutes of music gracing this hunk of plastic. What seems to be the issue with this disc is that Chixdiggit have removed themselves from the humor and light-hearted soul that drove their previous releases. While the music is still typically up-beat, there always seems to be a note of seriousness at the periphery and as a result, the disc really is lost between a goofy past and a serious future. “Jimmy The Con” is the perfect example of this, maintaining the poppy, good-natured form of earlier tracks but without the humor of previous albums.

Top Tracks: Jimmy The Con, Geocities Kitty

Rating: 5.6/10

Chixdiggit – Pink Razors / 2005 Fat Wreck / 13 Tracks / http://www.chixdiggit.com / http://www.fatwreckchords.com / Reviewed 06 April 2005

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