Posted on: January 12, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

A harder-edged punk band than most of the pop-punk that is coming out currently, The Pennyroyals seem more in tune with bands like Three Days Grace than Good Charlotte. In fact, the first track on “There Is No Revolution!”, “Better Than Me” is led by a harsh guitar attack and the perfect vocals of Mike. Skillfully mixing in synthesizer lines to their tried-and-true brand of rock , The Pennyroyals seemed destined for the brass ring in just a short period of time. Simply put, The Pennyroyals play a brand of rock that would be astonishing if it didn’t break them big, as this is exactly in the form of The Used and Velvet Revolver. Using much of the same formula for their second track, “Watch Me Die” is a more emotive plea to their audience, incorporating a second set of tortured vocals to make the track stand out more.

By far though, the one thing that stands out the most during “Watch Me Die” are the double-bass drums present on the track (done masterfully by Lightsey). Finishing up the disc with “Trapped”, The Pennyroyals show their lighter side with the incorporation of military-style drumming and acoustic, all tied up by Mike trying eir’s best to properly showcase everything emotional. The track is easily an analogue to tracks like Simple Plan’s “Perfect” or Sum 41’s “We’re All To Blame”, albeit for completely different reasons. Using Spartanly-spaced instrumentation, the impetus is largely given to Mike to shoulder the tremendous burden of these empty spaces (just like the aforementioned “Perfect”) and the ability to change so completely the style of music and genre in which they are playing is a definite nod to the metal/punk leanings of Canadian wunderkind Sum 41.

All in all, The Pennyroyals are royally suited for oodles of face-time on mTV and mainstream radio. However, this EP is much too short to gain an adequate appreciation for the abilities of the act, as the ability to string together ten or eleven tracks and keep listeners interested through them is one way to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Everything that I can gather about “There Is No Revolution!” points to the former, though as the instrumentation and arrangement is far above normal, the mixing and mastering perfect and the influences and way in which they are incorporated into the music show a band for more mature than their three-year existence would indicate.

Top Track: Better Than Me

Rating: 6.0/10

The Penny Royals – There Is No Revolution! / 2004 Royal Tea / 3 Tracks / http://www.pennyroyals.com / Reviewed 21 February 2005

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