Beat Alley

What do you get if you cross the Ramones with Blink-182? I am aware that this crosses generations, and, for the punk rock purists, it is borderline heresy, but this is what I think of while listening to the New Rochelles. Their pop punk bounce is driven by a classic punk grind and persuasion that makes their sound almost tolerable. The album goes by so quickly that you almost have to hear it again to make sure nothing was missed.

An upbeat record, the three man band put forth It’s New! in early August, 2011. The entire album is under twenty minutes long with only one song out of the twelve that is longer than 1:30. It is one Ramones influenced riff after another and the singer sings at the top of his range much the same as Mark Hoppus of Blink-182. To further the Ramones homage, all three members of the band have the last name Rochelle and even go as far as quipping, “Second verse, same as the first!” during the song Static Shock.

When it has been heard and digested, some of the funny lyrics hover in your mind, but the feel is corrupted by an almost bluntly stolen style, and there really isn’t anything remarkable or exciting. It is a quirky record, but it has been done before, and done better.