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[rating:8/10]
I have been a fan of mid-west pop punk for some time now, but I am still new enough that I am unfamiliar with the other bands that The Slow Death members belong to (Pretty Boy Thorson, or The Ergs for example), and maybe is that ignorance that is skewing my perception of the record. But I have heard enough to know that these guys aren’t reinventing the wheel, but what they are doing (and it comes out in the music) is making the type of music they love, and loving it all the while.
It reminds me of yesterday while I was watching one of my favourite movies, Rocky Balboa (don’t judge me). A line at the beginning of the movie says “all of boxing is looking for a warrior who thrills us with their passion.” While boxing in real life is in much the same state, music is too, but music can give us something boxing can’t, the warriors who can thrill us .I think that is what drove me to buy the record, and when the band recently had a Kickstarter campaign to help them go on a European tour, I purchased the record again (only this time signed). Sadly the campaign failed and I won’t get to add that record to my collection.
But enough of my bitterness, Born Ugly Got Worse is a collection of 12 pop punk anthems that are full of the 3 punk H’s:hooks, heartbreak, and hanging out drinking. What else could you want if you are a fan? What else could you ask for? To me, nothing. If you want a good down and dirty pop punk album, listen to Born Ugly Got Worse, if you’re looking for something else, you won’t find it here.
-T.J.