CD REVIEW

Author: Kathryn Tucker

The Living End: Roll On

There aren’t many bands out there today that can mix punk and rock ability and make it sound good. It doesn’t exactly go together, but the guys of The Living End pull it off nicely.

On its latest album, Roll On, The Living End keeps its gritty edge while sounding more cohesive. This CD has great energy and is one that you can listen to over and over again.

This Australian band has been together for seven years with Chris Cheney on guitar and lead vocals, Scott Owen on upright bass and Travis Demsey on drums. Cheney writes about rebellion, protest, rioting, human angst and a lot of drinking.

On “Uncle Harry,” which basically talks about a lonely old man who drinks too much and relieves himself in his bath, it’s apparent that these guys have the brash spirit of punk, much like the Sex Pistols, in them.

Although not all the songs are about drinking, most have some reference to it. Take, for instance, “Staring at the Light” “Some may relish in the afterlife, dancing slowly on the edge of a knife, sipping wine of the poisonous kind, overdose on loneliness”

The Living End’s original sound and dirty vocals have gotten it quite a following. Many fans are big-name bands such as Blink 182, Silverchair, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Rancid.

The Living End’s Roll On with its infectious choruses and great electric guitar riffs is definitely an album to get if you’re in the mood to listen to some really awesome punk. But one thing you should know: They are nowhere close to sounding like Blink 182, so if that’s the kind of so-called punk you like, look elsewhere.

KATHRYN TUCKER SOUTH LAKE HIGH