The Soviettes - LP III

Why do all punk rock records have to be so short? Is it because the songs themselves are short and people don’t like putting 30 songs on one CD? The Soviettes continue this tradition by releasing their new record LP III, which clocks in at right around 30 minutes. The one thing about having a short album is that you better have some damn impressive songs if you are only going to give people 30 minutes of music. Unfortunately, the tunes on LP III don’t really stick with you after the CD comes to an end, and the band is easily forgotten. The problem doesn’t lie in the songwriting in so much as in the lack of variety within the record. Most songs stick pretty close to the pop-punk-rock formula of fast power riffs and bouncy melodies (along with pretty decent female vocals) that sound good for a song or three but start to cause a loss of interest about halfway through the album. It is kind of disappointing because you really want to like the band. Almost any of the songs on their own are enjoyable and an EP of the songs would get a pretty strong rating; but a full-length (even only 30 minutes worth) is just a bit too much of the same. If you have the patience for an album full of decent songs that all sound a lot a like, you might want to give this record a shot. Otherwise, chances are if you make it all the way through the record, you won’t be in a hurry to put it on repeat. [www.thesoviettes.com]