These guys have the punk sensibilities and lyrical bravado of Dillinger Four, the unusually amazing charm of the Copyrights, and bit of the playfulness of New York’s Lost Locker Combo.

While my favorite track on the record, “Turning Seventeen,” has a chorus that steals the entire show and is straightforward pop-punk, this is as far removed from the pop-punk of Screeching Weasel and the Ramones as you could possibly get. No, this reminds me more of some of the early Plan-It-X Records releases that I absolutely fell in love with, only much more polished. But with the famed Matt Allison and Adam Fletcher in the producer roles, of course this is going to be a perfect recording. So I’d say this music will tickle fans of Lemuria or Randy as much as it would excite a diehard Green Day fan.

There is amazing lead guitar all over the record, but nowhere more so than on “Throw a Party,” the song that is what I wish the Sex Pistols actually sounded like in real life. Seriously.

Track three, “Cha, Cha, Chump” might be the very first pop-punk song to utilize “cha cha cha” style backing vocals as opposed to the traditional “la la las.” That’s like punk-points extra credit! Right? Who doles those out these days?

Best set of lyrics from the album? This chorus: “Clothes and records, smokes and meds/I warped cassettes I continually flipped/this box of vinyl is the only world I know that spins.”

Solid release. Solid label.

(It’s Alive Records, 11411 Hewes Street, Orange, CA 92869)