This Bike is a Pipe Bomb - Three Way Tie for a Fifth

This Bike is a Pipe Bomb is another Plan-It-X Records band that I've come to adore over the past couple of years, sharing a label with similar acts, such as Ghost Mice, Against Me!, the Carrie Nations, etc. Three Way Tie for a Fifth, the band's third record, doesn't abandon the group's niche of catchy, sloppy, folk-tinged punk rock, but the album certainly doesn't expand on that sound, either. As mentioned before, the trio sticks to a combination of bouncy folk and punk rock, incorporating harmonicas and even a cowbell on occasion. All three members sing, not well, but they manage. Three Way Tie for a Fifth is a short-lived, but lively album comprised of 11 tracks, with no real concept (other than the album's boxing beginning and end, "Jack Johnson" and "The Ballad of Sonny Liston," respectively) and the band (thankfully) hasn't ventured beyond their race issues/growing up/corrupt system/social troubles-oriented song content, making the album another notch in This Bike is a Pipe Bomb's musical wall... For most bands, the expansion of their art is integral to success. This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, though, has and will continue to simply be themselves, playing for enjoyment in sweat-drenched basements and sun-soaked backyards all over the country, never worried about the demons of the music business. Fun, loveable, huggable, danceable, and charming, Three Way Tie for a Fifth is worth checking out, and while Pennywise can't effectively put out the same record year after year, I don't think anyone will have qualms with This Bike is a Pipe Bomb doing so. [www.plan-it-x.com]