Search - :: Pummel

It doesn't matter what year it is or whether this band calls itself All or the Descendents (a previous incarnation with a different singer); they'll still make the same record, year after year. And that's not a bad thing, considering that the album they've been remaking for more than 10 years pretty much defined the term "pop punk." Groups such as Green Day and Bad Religion owe a huge debt to this band, and it's only because of their success that All have finally been signed to a major label. Pummel is musically as good as any of their previous records, but unfortunately it contains some lyrical inconsistencies that are a little disturbing. Each of the members contribute to different songs, but drummer Bill Stephenson's lyrics are the most troublesome of the bunch. Where he used to write goofy, bittersweet love songs about falling in love, he has turned bitter, mean-spirited, and, despite what he thinks, homophobic. In "Uncle Critic" he writes, "You're always printing shit about me / You're still years behind me / So if you've got anything to say to me / Say it to my face / Don't call me homophobic." Yet later, in "Hetero," he proclaims, "What a fucked-up world / Or is it my fucked-up head / The only way you're cool / Is if you're gay or dead."--Adem Tepedelen