Popular punk band Ghoti Hook has ended a nine-year run by releasing a 6-song self-titled EP that is not only their best album, but is one of the best full-on rock albums in the market.
Ghoti Hook has matured into a straight-ahead "old-school," three-piece rock and roll band. The album seethes with energy, recalling a time when rock was played just for the fun of it. Expanding on influences from their last album, Two Years to Never, this EP is filled with fast and dirty rock riffing, anthemic, fist-in-the-air choruses, and Joel Bell's passionate and melodic singing.
"Darling" and "Robert Paulson" both feature choruses as immediately singable as anything on the radio, while "Let It Ride" boasts a Vegas groove while Bell yells "I'm feelin' lucky, I'm goin' in / double down, twenty-one to win." "Ghost in the Graveyard" throws atmospheric vocals into the mix, and opener "Drop Dead" features some of the crunchiest guitar licks to ever grace a disc (in the Christian market, at least). Adam Neubauer's pounding drums make the song rattle around in your brain like a pinball machine on steroids.
There are very few complaints with Ghoti Hook. "You Bring Me Down" offers nothing new compared to the rest of the album, but the major problem is that the disc is too short. Ghoti Hook has just hit their stride with this EP, and it's a shame this is their last release. But you can't go wrong with an album cover that features bassist Jamie Tolosa sporting a Denison Marrs shirt. How cool is that!?
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis March 2002Reviewed by ConradAs you know by now Ghoti Hook is calling it quits pretty soon but they left us with a gem of what could have been. The 6 song EP released by Velvet Blue Music picks up where their last release, Two Years To Never, left off. If that sentence bothers you and were hoping for another Sumo, sorry, you're not going to be interested in this EP. This EP is in your face Rock and Roll with no gimmicks…Opus 2002Reviewed by Jeffrey EllingerDear Adam Neubauer, Joel Bell, and Jamie Tolosa -- I miss you guys. Technically we never met. But our connection goes deeper than the short, meaningless fan exchange in which the pathetic admirer clamors desperately for attention from a band for a paltry couple of seconds (thankfully, I have never participated in such a ghastly act) and asks queries like "Do you like stuff?" or even worse "How…Similar sounding releases
2001Sum 41All Killer No Filler
2000Relient KRelient K
2003AnadivineAnadivine
1999Saves the DayThrough Being Cool
2005Isle of ViewGentle Firefly Radio
2005The WeddingThe Wedding
