Huntingtons

Item: High School Rock
Author: Tony LaFianza

High School Rock

(1998)

Reviewed by Tony LaFianza

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Label Tooth & Nail RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

pop punk punk

Buzz-saw rock band the Huntingtons have done it again. With High School Rock, that is, they have made another Ramones record, via some Delaware dynamite. By the way, that is no put down, it is a tribute to New York's finest punk rock band and what the Huntingtons do; no one does it better. The Huntingtons are Mikey Huntington, vocals and bass; Cliffy Huntington, guitar and vocals; Mikee Huntington, drums; and Bradley Huntington, guitars and vocals. This is Brad's first recording as a full time Huntington, and the band's first record on Tooth and Nail.

This bright record sounds great. Recorded in two weeks with Mass Giorgini at the boards for the second time, the Huntingtons sprint through these sixteen songs without a hitch, and, like their shows, without much break either. One song leads into the next, for a continuous flow of molten rock and roll. Like all Huntington records the lyrical subjects are high school dances, relationships, girl friends, hanging out and being different. Track seven is called "Jeannie Hates the Ramones," the singer is going to have to leave his girl friend, Jeannie, because she hates his favorite band, the Ramones. In fact, she makes fun of them and even coughs on his records. Bye Jeannie, we can't have that on a Huntingtons record. There is also a tribute song to Back to the Future called "1985", and a couple of songs at the end of the record that even mention God--sort of... "Jackie is an Atheist" is about a cool young girl that is into the band, knows all the songs, and goes to all the shows, but won't change her mind about her faith, no matter how much the guys talk to her. They conclude "just give her some time". The last song is about Avi, a guy who likes to dress in black, and make up, he kinda looks like a vampire, but he's a real cool guy:

'cuz he knows God and all that stuff...
He just likes to get a rise out of the normal folks,
he's just the same as you and me under those silly jokes.

The Huntingtons are tight, rockin' fun. For the band's fourth full length album, the musical recipe seems to be two bags of Ramones, 1 1/2 cups of One Bad Pig, with a pinch of beach music, ala New York City, thrown in. If you like the sound of that, you'll like the Huntingtons' High School Rock.

3.5 tocks