10th anniversary reissue of debut album. "Combines the simplicity and catchiness of the Strokes, with Sonic Youth's noisy, uneasy guitars... more strokes than the new Strokes album." The Balkans debut is not a punk record, nor is it a pop record. This is the outcome of over 3 years of the young band writing many, many songs. The final product is their ten best most straight-forward, energetic, and frantic pop songs. This is a no-nonsense LP, with each song being able to stand alone as its own single. Beatlesque guitar hooks on fast-punk-grind that waivers between bouts of sincerity and catharsis, yet it is also heartfelt at times. Each song seems to be rooted in the bad experiences of young adult romance, evoking memories of teenage lust and heartbreak, the kind of heartbreak that makes you want to punch your mirror and play the guitar with extreme force. Led by Frankie Broyles of Omni, Deerhunter fame.
