Alien Crime Syndicate delivers another strong dose of pop-punk on XL from Coast to Coast, their second official album. Although hundreds of bands have tried the same formula, this is the first independent record since
Urge Overkill's Supersonic Storybook to truly reconcile '70s
hard rock with
indie pop. Much like that album, they haven't quite mastered it yet (it took Urge one more album to nail it) but their ideas are starting to come together nicely. Singer
Joe Reineke has a great voice for this material, and he captures both the arrogant swagger of classic rock with the naïve delicacy of
indie rock. The songs are their best batch to date, offering catchy
pop ("Ya Blink It's"), sweet ballads ("Figure It Out"), and thick rockers ("Careless") with equal confidence. And the nice part about XL from Coast to Coast is that even the tracks that don't immediately stick out are still catchy little
pop numbers are not obvious filler tracks. With a great batch of songs and just the right attitude, this is an album that delivers the goods and points to better things in the future from this foursome. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide
