The second I started to enjoy any of these songs, they end up taking an overwrought turn toward mall punk town. Are you looking for all the conventional trappings of whiny emo pop punk in one CD? If so, this is a great specimen. Most of these songs are pretty juvenile, and the lyrics will grate if you pay enough attention. For instance, on “Pity Party”: “pity party/it’s a pity party/are you feeling sad or are you feeling sorry?” As I type this out, I can hear the trite melody smashing around in my brain, probably destroying some happy childhood memory. I’m not necessarily saying I have a problem with song titles like “I Farted (Let’s Get Started)” or ones about gangrene asses, but songs about butts need to be fun and/or funny, otherwise they end up sounding way too much like a middle school talent show. I realized about halfway through listening how spot-fucking-on the title of this CD is. The Sprains aren’t creating anything new, just rehashing a genre that is pretty dead tired already. Maybe when these guys graduate high school, I’ll check back and see if they’ve moved on to any other parts of the body.
–Candice Tobin (Cheapskate, cheapskaterecords.com)