Smoke or Fire - This Sinking Ship

LABEL:

Fat Wreck Chords

GENRE:

Punk

RELEASE:

February 20, 2007

LENGTH:

33 min 54 sec

RATING:

After several name changes, Smoke or Fire popped up on the punk rock radar with their album Above the City on Fat Wreck Chords in 2005. While thoroughly enjoyable, the album was missing the necessary staying power of a good punk album. Additionally, their gritty-yet-catchy sound was bound to become more polished and This Sinking Ship is a shining testament to that promise. The album is full of anthemic tunes that are primarily focused on American culture, politics and everyday life, similar to the trademarked lyrical content of modern punk godfathers The Bouncing Souls, with a slightly more serious style.

"What Separates Us All" grabs your attention with a critical perspective on the divisive ideologies that grip our country, followed by the surefire pop-punk single "The Patty Hearst Syndrome," the title of which is sufficiently descriptive. There is lots of introspection on tracks like "This Sinking Ship," "I'll Be Gone," and "Irish Handcuffs," which touches on an potentially genetic desire to drink and the feelings associated with it. The difficulties of growing up and raising children rear their ugly heads in "Breadwinner," while "Life Imitating Art" takes a stab at television and advertising's hypnotic control on humanity. While there may not be a whole lot of new ideas expressed in these songs, they certainly do their best not to cheapen the existing ones and bring an always welcome perspective on life.

For those who might still be on the fence about Smoke or Fire, let me explain it like this: I like this album for the same reason that I go out and buy every Bouncing Souls record and fans of that band know exactly what I'm talking about. This Sinking Ship creates an unexplainable sense of admiration for our existence, in spite of life's endless pitfalls. I want to give this album a higher rating, while simultaneously feeling like I am praising it too much, with both reactions stemming from the exact same sentiment: put simply, it is what it is. It's not groundbreaking and to some, it may feel like more of the same, but to me, that's where it gets its charm. This is a good, catchy, reflective punk album; nothing more, but certainly nothing less.