Smokejumper: I’m aware they’re a new band, but my best way I can think to describe them is that I saw them in a New Jersey VFW Hall in 1998. They played with a bunch of generally pop punk bands, and played what I assumed was a cover (again, I can’t keep track of all of these covers these days). The Pillowfights: They played the same hall in 2003. A little more of a Jade Tree hardcore sound that veers more towards cutesy than chugga chugga, in the vein of Lifetime, or stretching, the Bouncing Souls. It mildly bothers me that their side seems to end with the “serious” song. It’s a fact that you’re supposed to end on the laugh (unless this is meant as the cliffhanger, in which case shame on me).
–joe (Silver Sprocket)