There’s nothing wrong with singing about pints, bootstraps, and the ups and downs of the working class life. For Californian punk band The Harrington Saints, they take the punk rock formula of “drink, fight, and fuck” and make perfect tunes to chant along with while wearing your Doc Martens and Ben Sherman. Man, since when is being punk so expensive? Ah streetpunk, you never change!
Their new album, Dead Broke In The U.S.A., is a streetpunk album with short guitar solos and energetic sing-alongs. The music is straight and to the point with no fancy words that no one knows the definition to. Starting the album off with the title track, it’s an introduction the album’s fun bass lines and scratchy chorus lines. “Pub Song” is a great bar anthem after a hard day at work. The rest of the songs on the album sound very similar, but what else would you expect from a punk band? It’s always been fast-paced drumming, uncomplicated guitar riffs, oi, oi, oi, and having a good time.
Everything about this album is plain and simple, but consistent. The music is tight and the recording is nice and clean. Harrington Saints aren’t your hard and heavy streetpunk band where everything is too fast and too loud. They’re a melodic punk band that would fit in perfectly at any dive bar. Even though the whole working class theme gets a little old by the end of this brief album (ok, we get it…you work a lot), their catchy songs make up for it.
In A Word: Oi!
