Cool that this is getting the reissue treatment, as I’ve always considered The Soviettes stalwarts of the pop punk scene back when it started to smarten itself up, if that makes sense. Originally released in 2003, and featuring folks that would later do time in groups like Gateway District and Partial Traces, this album’s like a B12 shot after weeks spent inside. It’s a twenty-year-old record, and with only the last song barely making it over the three-minute mark, and I… don’t remember them being this good? And I don’t mean that as a burn! But sitting down and actually listening to this thing two decades after its release, it’s incredible to see just how varied this band was while still adhering tightly to the framework of pop punk. The buried melancholy of “Undeliverable” carries a sadness that would—to this listener—be explored greatly in future bands like Partial Traces. The weird jubilance of “Go Lambs Go!” The buried surf lines in “Land of Clear Blue Radio,” and try to listen to “Blue Stars,” the album’s opener, without giving a nod to Bikini Kill’s singles. I mean, just a fantastic band, way wiser and catchier then I originally gave them credit for, and the fact that this is getting reissued and has become readily available again is fantastic for all of us. Feels like I’m kind of discovering them again for the first time, you know? –Keith Rosson (Rad Girlfriend / Dead Broke)