Dynamite Boy - Self-Titled

Austin, Texas, is home to the internationally known South by Southwest Music Conference, Austin City Limits, its annual festival, and other landmarks, like Waterloo Records. It is a landscape flourishing with the arts, and colorful locals make sure of that daily. Austin is also home to a very fine punk band, a band that takes from the city’s punk roots and uses it to enrich their own sound. That band is Dynamite Boy, who are coming off a recent tour to promote their self-titled third album from California label, Fearless Records (Brazil, The Aquabats). This band and their album are a fresh answer to other questionable releases of the year in the genre. A bit of background: Dynamite Boy enlisted the help of local punk legend Chris Gates (Big Boys, Junkyard) to record their first full-length, Hell Is Other People on Offtime Records. In 1999, they signed with their current label, Fearless Records, and recorded with Jim Goodwin (Face to Face, Guttermouth, Voodoo Glow Skulls) at the Paramount Recording Studios. The boys have been traveling the coast-to-coast with The Queers recently, wrapping up on Sept. 11, and they also have a song, “Guide to the Living Dead,” that you can check out when you buy the Smartpunk Warped Tour Compilation disc. Standouts one should listen for are the very hyperactive and action-starter “Suspended Animation.” “Man of the Year” has the catchiest intro of all the tunes on the disc, which has you listening to the whole track just to hear it again. With harmonies sweet on punk, you won’t be disappointed. Other goodies are “Photograph,” which has a bit of piano scattered at its intro (intros are my thing, it seems) and partial lyrics to the song are links to a website where you can listen to the complete album (http://www.strikethesewords.com). Nevertheless, on we march to “Sky’s the Limit” and “Bring the Rock,” that comes in and (it’s almost as if you’re enjoying a great live show!) announces that, sadly, there are only a few songs left, but they are worth sticking around for till last-call. “Accepted” is a hard little number that steps in abruptly but lends the spotlight to the closing track, “Long Since Forgotten,” which borrows lovely vocal work from friend Stella Maxwell. The song could, however, have benefited greatly by creating vocals to evoke more of a story-telling affect since the song is about a girl set for self-destruction. Dynamite Boy’s new album is essentially for the fan of punk rock, and their many adoring fans won’t be disappointed. [www.dynamiteboy.com]