I recognize that Razorcake covers pop punk and that it’s still a thing and people are into that thing, and that’s great. I just feel very removed from that world. The Capitalist Kids have a name from a punk band name generator and songs that match, I suppose. If you close your eyes and think “pop punk,” you can hear the entire album, which is more of an issue than the “coolness” problem they address on their opening track (“Not ‘95”). But maybe there is no problem here. I’m with them politically, if not at all aesthetically. They’re having fun, it’s their world. Meanwhile: I’m thirty-four, and I spent the morning reading Blood Meridian and listening to the Bill Evans Trio and Miles Davis. What do I do with this?
–Matt Werts (It’s Alive / Toucan Play)