River City Rebels

The third album from River City Rebels finds this group of Vermont youngsters growing up a little bit, learning from past albums, and perhaps finally coming into their own. The 12 songs on No Good No Time No Pride are all pretty short and fast. Most are upbeat in their structure, while the lyrics are typical teenage angst combined with a somber outlook on life ("Aborted"). Topics addressed include questioning religion and capitalism, amongst other things, and all the typical punk rock life philosophy. Musically, the Rebels aren't utilizing their horns nearly as much, which leads one to wonder why they have them, although there is some novelty to being a punk band with horns as opposed to a pure ska band. On some songs the tenor sax and trombone are hardly used and when heard, they're put down far in the mix ("Life's a Drag"). While the primary structure follows loosely along the lines of the Clash mixed with the attitude of the Sex Pistols, the drumming is tight and solid; it's quite obvious that drummer Eric Schmidt has some degree of talent more than what the average punk fan would expect a punk drummer to have. While this album is not nearly as intolerable as previous efforts and the lyrical content seems a bit more intelligent (but definitely still punk), it still smacks of a certain degree of immaturity, which isn't surprising since the oldest member of the band was 23 at the time of recording. Of special note is the enhanced portion of the CD, which has some interesting tour diary video from a long weekend with the Rebels from April 2002. All the punks out there who are still staying true to the crusty, dirty cause should check this out and keep an eye out for the River City Rebels when they come to your town. ~ Kurt Morris, All Music Guide