As a genre, punk rock is meant to be in your face. Abrasive, melodic and cathartic. Those three simple yet powerful words adequate describe the new EP Reaction from the Washington, D.C. area band American Television. Hot off the heels of hosting Breakin’ Even Fest, a music festival in their local community that included Iron Chic, Timeshares and Slingshot Dakota, it’s now their turn to get some things off of their chest, and they have a lot of things to say and a lot of issues to confront.
Lyrically, Reaction tackles everything from the consequences of uprooting your life and planting in a brand new location, the wars we battle every single day of our lives and the being in a crowd full of people yet feeling dreadfully alone. Instead of dancing around these issues, singer Steve Rovery puts them right in your face and dares you to look away.
“I’m generally pretty happy,” states Rovery. “I save my dark emotions for writing instead of my persona.” It’s evident that through his writing, Rovery is exorcising his demons and listening to Reaction will help you exorcise yours, too.
To match this energy throughout the EP, the band plays tunes that will make any fan of Face To Face, Epitpah Records era Hot Water Music and Millencolin grin from ear to ear. Their sound is no throwback, however. It makes perfect sense that they would share the stage with Iron Chic, because their influence can be heard throughout the EP as well. Each player on the EP is very solid, with no instrument dominating the sounds on each song and blending well with Rovery’s vocals.
With Reaction, American Television is making punk rock as it is meant to be. Abrasive, melodic and cathartic.
Stream “ Better Living Through Chemistry” below, and pick up the EP Reaction starting on 4/22 via Bandcamp.