Harkens back to the ‘90s when every band and their grandparents were wearing oversized cargo shorts and writing forced-rhyme lamentations about ex-girlfriends to the same three chords. And yet—surprise, surprise—in spite of the potential pitfalls, To Live and Die… manages to come across as fresh and relevant. While the band would’ve been right at home doing singles on Mutant Pop or Rhetoric (the Scared Of Chaka cover is pretty indicative), there’s something about this LP that avoids sounding outdated and just comes across as fun as shit. Pop punk often times gets a bad rap, and has long been synonymous with words like predictability, vapidity, and saccharine cuteness—but the Kimberly Steaks manage to avoid all that stuff. Sure, maybe it sounds like some bands we’ve heard before, but if that’s the case, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard a band do it this well, this exuberantly. The only downside’s a lack of lyric sheet. It’d be nice to know specifically what these guys are crowing about. Still, recommended.
–keith (All In)