Remember a time when Fenix Tx were good and pop-punk wasn't quite as diluted as it is now? Bottom Line will take you back to those glorious days when the sun seemingly shone every day and three-way harmonies could be eaten for breakfast, dinner and tea and you'd have no chance of suffering a saccharine OD. These Ohio kids formed in 2000 and before they'd even finished high school had played the Warped Tour and toured Japan. On the basis of 'Eloquence', it's really not hard to see why.
This record is pop-punk perfection - it has absolutely everything you need for a band that sings catchy songs with bouncy guitar riffs. Each of the 12 three-minute anthems will have you bouncing off the walls, such is the power the band have when it comes to writing radio-friendly pop nuggets. Of course it's completely unoriginal and NFG, Blink etc have done it all a million times before,
but Bottom Line do it well - really well. It's impossible not to sing along to tracks like 'Nothing Is Real (As If It Ever Was)' and the stomping 'Blind'.
For me Bottom Line sound like Fenix Tx, especially vocally, mixed up with the energy of early New Found Glory. The two and three-way vocal harmonies really make these guys stand out, however, making some of their songs completely irresitable. 'False Alarm' has more hooks than a fishing tackle store, while 'She Left Off' has some of the best backing vocals I've ever heard. The production, split between Cameron Webb, Greg Yock and the band themselves, is spot on too. Of course it is over-produced for most bands, but pop-punk bands need a really full, sweet sound and it doesn't get much better than this. In short, Bottom Line will be destined for your stereos this summer, so strap yourself in for the ride now.
www.bottomlinepunk.com
Nice Guy Records
Paul
