When I first heard an Audio Karate song about a year ago I wasn’t particularly impressed. It was just boring, predictable So-Cal pop-punk. So imagine my surprise to hear that ‘Space Camp’ is a near-perfect slice of emotional pop, tinged with a spikey punk edge. Infact I’d go as far as saying that this could well be the sleeper hit of the year…
Despite being influenced by the likes of NOFX and Screeching Weasel, this lot, based in Rosemead, California, come across like the Get Up Kids gone punk crossed with The Ataris gone emo. Infact this is the record that Kris Roe tried to write when he penned ‘End Is Forever’. There’s twelve slices of highly delectable songsmithery here and I dare you not to sing along.
‘Rosemead’ kicks things off in great fashion with it’s “I remember when we first met refrain,” which will be lapped up by bespecatcled emo kids across the world. Get the Kleenex ready, because it’s a fantastic song – swirling guitar riffs met with a driving bassline and some wonderful vocals provided by Art Barrios. True, the Trever Keith (of Face To Face fame) production gives them slightly more than a leg-up, but you can have all the production in the world, but it is rendered useless without the songs. And AK have them in abundance. Witness ‘Drama Club Romance’ as a further example, with a corking chorus and a Dawsons Creek-esque lovelorn story conveyed in the lyrics.
‘Nintendo 69’ is straight from the Kris Roe school of writing, using the console as a metaphor for life. It’s great stuff and the tune isn’t too bad either… ‘Halfway Decent’ raises the notch even higher, going full-out melodic emo on us. If you’re not touched by the desperation in Art’s vocals, there is something seriously wrong with you. ‘Hello St Louis’ carries on in the same high quality vein, as does ‘Monster In Disguise’ which could well have been written by Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids. This band are really good folks. Really good.
When you think things can’t get much better, ‘Car Ride Home’ raises the bar even further. The vocals here are superb and Jason Camacho’s inventive guitar fills and solo add an extra layer to proceedings. ‘Senior Year’ rocks out a little more without breaking into too much of a sweat, yet even then it doesn’t lose that cool hummable tune which the band seem to be able to produce with ease. ‘One Day’ carries on the greatness with a chorus as big as anything else on offer here. It maybe lacks a little urgency, but hey, what’s a minor quibble like that between friends?
‘San Jose’ rocks like something that rocks hard (Reel Big Fish anyone…) leaning towards the likes of their heroes in NOFX. More full-on than anything else here, it bucks the trend of bands going mellow for one song on an album. AK go the other way – they rock out instead. And in amongst the machine gun drumming and Strung Out style guitars is a sensitive tale of drug abuse. Songs about fucking your best mate’s mum is not AK’s forte… ‘Jason’ carries on the good work with an up-tempo pop-punk blast, before ‘T-San’, arguably the weakest track on the record, ends things. When I say weak, I mean excellent, just not quite as excellent as the others.
Audio Karate have literally come out of nowhere with a debut CD that is bursting at the seams with goodness. ‘Space Camp’ gets better with every listen. It’s not obvious melodic punk, giving it an edge over many of their peers recent records. Certainly ones to watch out for, because there’s only one place that AK are heading and that’s up towards the stars…
Paul Savage