Buzz

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Jeff Ott and Fifteen tone down the political mewling on "I Keep on Trying," the fifth track from Fifteen's Buzz, and the song benefits greatly. It's not that Ott's standard, "message" material is overly snide or wrong-headed, it's just that all of the manifestos tend to overpower Fifteen's very listenable pop-punk. It's one thing when the screams of underclass betrayal and environmental retribution are accompanied by an equally aggressive hardcore noise, but Fifteen's tempered delivery amounts to a mismatch of sorts. Despite these textural mismatches, there are still enough good performances to warrant a general recommendation. The opener, "World Starvation," features some of Ott's best guitar work and "Food Not Bombs" sizzles with punk energy. The warbling delivery of overwrought lyrics on tracks like "Situations" unnecessarily hinders too many numbers on Buzz, and like many other Fifteen releases, ultimately limits the record's appeal. But fans of the group will still get a charge from this 1996 offering. ~ Vincent Jeffries.

via Last.fm

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