• Compact discs!

1. Message
2. This Boy's Giving Up
3. Shiny Little Hearts
4. My Very Best
5. A Turn For The Worse
6. Goodnight Louise
7. One More Round
8. Look Out Below
9. Up And Down
10. Leaving You
11. Down Again
12. The Happy Songs
13. Someday, Somewhere

$10

The 20 Belows
MySpace

Story

The record making process is almost always laborious. Itï¿½s a series of back and forth that starts with where to record, recording, mixing, mastering and finally art work. Everyone involved has their own ideas of how things should be and you are working with a bunch of people and their schedules. After the music is done the art work process takes months and from there the pressing takes about another month. This is standard and everyone accepts the scrambling that is involved with the process to make deadlines and release dates. ï¿½Headaches and Moodswingsï¿½ was not like this at all. It was so different from the norm that it has ruined the process for me. In some kind of record time the album went from my hands to the pressing plant in about a week and a half thanks the tremendous job by the band and Sern their former bass player and graphic designer. This album was also a real treat for me because it felt like a home coming of sorts. Iï¿½ve always held the 20 Belows (similarly with the Zatopeks and the Ergs) close to my heart because of being luckily enough to help out with their first release and seeing them get bigger as a band.

Reviews

Punx.nl by Pure and Simple:

De Deens band the 20 Belows spelen geen bier beï¿½nvloede hardcore als Barcode (even de enige Deense band die in me opkomt), maar zijn het zoveelste bandje dat parasiteert op de erfenis van The Ramones. Maar dan ietswat poppier in de, wat ik altijd noem, Stardumb stijl. Denk dus aan the Queers, Screeching Weasel en Zatopeks, maar dan van een kleiner kaliber en minder eigen smoelwerk. Deze 13 tracks tellende plaat staat bomvol liefdesverdriet ondersteund door poppy punkdeuntjes, maar de algehele sound van deze heren is niet stevig genoeg naar mijn smaak en spannend wordt het nergens. Daar waar bijvoorbeeld bands als the Travoltas en Teen Idols wel blijven hangen met hun zoete deuntjes zal deze band waarschijnlijk niet terugkeren in mijn cd-speler aankomende zomer. Zeker ook niet slecht te noemen, maar hebben nog een lange weg te gaan voordat ze zich een grote jongen mogen noemen in het genre.

Translation by the translating program on dashboard:

The Danish the 20 Belows play no beer influenced hardcore such as bar code (just as the only Danish link which in me rises), but are the zoveelste band that parasitises on the inheritance of The Ramones. But then something what headstock worm in, what I call always, Stardumb style. Think therefore of the Queers, Screeching Weasel and Zatopeks, but then of a smaller gauge and less own face work. bomvol love sorrow supported poppy punkdeuntjes, but the complete sound of these lords is not firmly enough to my taste and stretching it becomes nowhere. There where for example link as the Travoltas and Teen Idols however, continue hang with their sweet deuntjes these link probably will not return in my cd-speler arriving summer. Certainly also bad call, but do not have to leave still long before they can call himself a large boy in the genre.

Maximum Rock N Roll review by Ray Lujan

A band from Denmark that goes for that Queers & Screeching Weasel sound and hits the mark. Tight, energetic playing with catching songs. Fans of the Groovie Ghoulies and the Travoltas will like this too. Overall, an impressive debut from the label that brough us the Unlovables and the Ergs.

All Music Guide review by Stewart Mason

Since the Mr. T Experience is on an extended hiatus, what with Dr. Frank off being best-selling young-adult novelist Frank Portman (actually, read King Dork, it's really very good!) and everything, there was an opening for "Most Adorable Punk Band In The World," and lo and behold, the 20 Belows showed up to fill it. And this Copenhagen-based quartet's not giving up the crown without a fight: these guys could be the cuddliest group of pop-punks ever. The key is lead singer Ulrich Basler's boyish, high-pitched voice, which is the textbook definition of "winsome," to a degree not seen since the first EP by Mitch Easter's Let's Active back in 1983. The uniformly lovelorn lyrics, with titles like "This Boy's Giving Up" and "The Happy Songs," almost sound like they were designed to appeal to the nascent mothering instincts of Manic Panic-wearing teenage girls the world over, at least long enough to let the 20 Belows cop a quick feel. There's also no evidence of the adolescent gross-out hijinks so common to similar bands in the style like the Queers and Screeching Weasel. Nope, it's just 13 killer punky power pop tunes, one after another, making Headaches and Moodswings a major league mood elevator despite the title.

Now Wave Magazine review by Lord Rutledge

I love pop-punk albums with thematic arc. The Mr. T. Experience had Love Is Dead. The Unlovables had Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak, which chronicled the inevitable stages of romantic entanglement. And now from Denmark's 20 Belows, we get Headaches and Moodswings, which easily could have been titled Breakup*Misery*Kill Yourself. This dude Ulrich, well he apparently has not had much luck with the ladies. It seems he's been dumped two or three or seven times. He's a bit, uh, down over the love he's lost. He's obsessed, depressed, and stricken with the excruciating pain of regret. He's having quite a tough time moving on. Geez, this album's such a downer that it makes the Parasites sound like The Wiggles! But I like it anyway - which is quite a testament to what a terrific band the 20 Belows are. The group churns out by-the-book Weaselly pop-punk that's laden with simple melodies and catchy guitar leads. It's nothing that you haven't heard before (obviously), but it's exuberantly played and damn hard to resist if you go for this sorta stuff. Ulrichs' vocals are fearlessly dorky and endearingly wussed-out. When it comes to these heartbroken sad sap types, you either wanna put the guy out of his misery or buy him a beer. And how could you possibly want to give this guy a kick in the ass? Come on, his name is Ulrich! It's just not possible to dislike a guy with a name like that! If he was a Steve or a Dan or a John, well then maybe you could withhold the benefit of the doubt. But he's an Ulrich, and I'd rather just invite him over to listen to Modern Lovers records. And the thing is, he's so good at feeling bad that one can't help but be uplifted by his songs. Who among us has never known heartache? Who among us has never despaired over the one that got away? Misery loves company, man. A round of Carlsberg for everyone! Best song: "Shiny Little Hearts", which brings to mind fellow Euro pop-punkers The Zatopeks.

Razorcake review by Joe Evans III

Man, I thought I knew pop punk, but I guess I was wrong, because this came out of nowhere to me. Imagine if Cletus did another record, recorded it with Ryan Greene, invited Joe Queer and Jughead to play on some songs, and lost the ï¿½Hey, Iï¿½m drunk, againï¿½ songs. Hereï¿½s a reminder that Whoa Oh is one of the better pop punk labels going right now.

Nuthin Zine review by Danny White

These days, it seems that Europeans have this pop punk thing down to a science. Joining such incredible bands as the Apers, The Popsters, and the Zatopeks are Copenhagen, Denmarkï¿½s own The 20 Belows. These guys play poppy as all get out melodic punk in the vein of Screeching Weasel. Their songwriting is clever and sharp, and the lyrics they bring to the table are catchy and intriguing. Add to that some really unique guitar riffs here and there and youï¿½ve got what they call a canï¿½t miss album. Hopefully Iï¿½ll get to see these guys play live some day soon, as they sound like they out on one hell of a show, and I want to be up front singing along.