I know someone will inevitably come forth to decry this statement, but I’d say on the west coast there’ve been two labels that are pretty much the go-to places for ‘70s punk/power pop/kitchen sink influenced stuff. In the south there’s Hostage (been a while since I’ve seen something from ‘em, so they may or may not exist at this point), who unleashed Smogtown, The Stitches, Broken Bottles, Bonecrusher, Smut Peddlers, and tons of others, while the north has been ruled by the mighty Dirtnap, who’ve released crucial material by The Briefs, The Gloryholes, The Spits, the Epoxies, and a veritable who’s who of the subgenre. With recent releases by The Bodies, Modern Action (the band), The Orphans, Smogtown, and others, it appears that Modern Action (the label) is now making a play to fill the void left by Noma Beach’s absence and rule the territory both literally and figuratively between the other two, and these releases are a few more warning salvos over the bow of anyone trying to move in. Like so many of their label mates, the songs on both singles feature an amalgamation of northern quirky punk pop sensibilities and southern thud-punk muscle. Yeah, the style might be starting to get a bit cookie-cutter, if you wanna be nitpicky about it, but I’ll be goddamned if these guys aren’t milking it for all it’s worth and ending up with some choice hits here, and there ain’t a clunker in the bunch. For those who prefer their music on a more recent dying format, The Five Song EP CD has the four songs from the two singles, plus a Satan’s Rats cover.
–jimmy (Modern Action)