Seattle punks The Briefs are back with their latest album Steal Yer Heart, a collection of new wave inspired punk tunes that are quirky, fun and irreverent, as well as fun to sing along to.
The most refreshing part of this album is that it draws on the influence of '70s punk and '80s new wave, yet manages to remain incredibly fresh. Granted, it may sound like an older band, but it sounds like the first time you ever heard that band. It's exciting, and not at all stale.
Poppy Love Songs That Do The Buzzcocks Proud
The album starts off fast and goofy, with the track "Genital General" and just keeps climbing from there. There are a few goofy love songs about high-maintenance women, like "Move Too Slow" and "My Girl (Wants To Be A Zombie)", a hardcore punk tune where vocalist Steve E. Nix sings of a girlfriend with a few peculiar problems:
Chasing people in the street
With gooey eyes and rotten teeth
Of all the things she likes to do
She wants to be a zombie too
That's not even close to being the silliest song on the album. That would have to go to "Getting Hit On At The Bank", a rocking tune where Nix bemoans being hit on in public based on his appearance.
"Forty And Above" is a catchy song about infatuation with older women, and it's too catchy to be offensive. The Briefs brings the love story full circle with "Razorblade Heart", a bittersweet breakup tune that the Buzzcocks could have written, but they didn't.
Punk Anthems Galore
This isn't to suggest that the album is entirely taken up by goofy or sad love songs. Steal Yer Heart also holds some of the best punk anthems I've heard in a while, "Normal Jerks", which is a typical punk song about not wanting to be aprt of the "regular world", but it's so catchy, with a great chorus to sing along to, that it keeps it fresh and fun:
Normal people dump dirty dishes
They always like to keep it clean
They don't make trouble cause they follow all the rules
They solve world issues while they lay out by the pool
I say so what, I don't care what you do
At least I'll never, ever be
A normal jerk like you
With their catchy new wave sound, and riffs influenced by the Buzzcocks, Vandals and Dead Kennedys, Steal Yer Heart is easily one of the best punk albums I've heard in a while, and it should definitely be a part of your collection.
