Reviews

Plaza Eight

The Darbs The Darbs LP

Mediocre mid-tempo pop punk that never goes anywhere for me. The vocals sound either blown-out or just incapable of hitting the notes they’re aiming for. I wouldn’t call him a bad singer, but I certainly wouldn’t call him good either. Honestly I’m just really bored by every song on this record. Nothing ever really gets my attention in a positive or negative way; inoffensive is the best way I can think to describe it, which is probably an insult to punk bands everywhere. On “Sitting Around” they straight up lift the opening riff of JAWBREAKER’s “Boxcar,” but it’s not like they, or the reunited East Bay titans, were the first to purpose those notes.

The Darbs She’s a Dungeon Master Now LP

Catchy and fun pop punk out of the Malibu of the Midwest: Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Maybe I’m being subconsciously influenced by the dairyland association, but these guys remind me a lot of BORIS THE SPRINKLER. Fantastic vocals, especially the harmonies. This is the kind of band I’d love to see live at some desolate Wisco bar late on a Friday night, with a lukewarm bottle of PBR and a matching neon sign hung behind the stage (in this fantasy, the stage is just a spot on the dining room floor where they cleared away the extra tables and chairs). Great album here. In my opinion, Wisconsin’s punk scenes in general are crucially underrated and they need to be boosted on everyone’s radar.