I don’t keep up with Red Scare Records much these days, but everything I hear from them still manages to be the catchiest goddamn thing I’ve ever heard. Shit. MakeWar is a pop punk band that uses a little of that scratchy raise-a-beer flannel-punk to balance out the earnest early-2000s emo pop sound that’s really at the heart of this. I’m thinking Brand New’s pop-punkiest era mixed in with something a little gruffer, like Strung Out or The Menzingers. Clean and accessible as can be, but it’s a lot more interesting than the slick and shiny Warped Tour fare that description might suggest. This album took about a song and a half to convince me that I’m gonna start hearing a lot more about MakeWar very soon. –Indiana Laub (Red Scare, [email protected], redscare.net / Gunner, [email protected], gunnerrecords.com)