Reviews
Razorcake #43 by Mr. Z
The label says, "It's like School of Rock meets School House Rock." GOOOD description! Imagine the keyboards ands guts from the Shemps meeting up with F.Y.P. on the first day of high school after not having seen one another since elementary school! Xylophone included. This CD is the shit, my friend, especially if you know who the Shemps and F.Y.P. are. "Scoliosis" is one of the funniest songs I've ever heard. Ever. And the skits in between the songs are just hilarious!
Maximum Rock 'n Roll#299 by Dr. Dante
BEST GLOCKENSPEIL punk/pop (with some bubblegum stuck under the desk) ever! And this is no more hyperbole, as anyone lucky enough to see these overage kids in action can attest. The high school theme/shtick is just icing on the cake, but everyone knows that bands that put care and attention into presentation are more likely to put it into their songs as well. Such is the case here. Inspirational lyric: "In theory Phys Ed is a mighty fine idea/But like a Nazi war criminal chagrin is engineered."
Jersey Beat by Jim Testa
Bill Florio�s been the unofficial court jester of NYC punk ever since he started slinging around White Castles in the basement of ABC No Rio back at the dawn of the Nineties (as a member of goofball-punkers Bugout Society.) His Lost Locker Combo bumps up the shtick several notches, showcasing Bill as a Groucho-like educator who presides over a merry circus of misfits in matching school outfits (red sweater vests and neckties) banging away on drums, guitars, bass, and glockenspiel(!). Throw in a mini-skirted cheerleader or two tossing confetti and molesting audience members and you�ve got one of the most entertaining, engaging, and interactive bands to come along in ages. But what about the music? Happily, LLC proves they�re as much fun to hear as to see, as Freshman Orientation takes us through a typical day at mythical Chippewa High School, complete with inane p.a. announcements from the principal and student council president in between songs. Florio�s satiric lyrics poke fun at various high-school horrors we can all identify with (from the humiliation of gym class to the sweet promise of driver�s ed,) set to simple, catchy pop-punk tunes sweetened with lots of chirpy backup vocals and harmonies (courtesy of Hallie Bullit from the Unlovables.) The band � which includes Frank Leone (also of the Unlovables) and Joe Evans III on guitars, Jonnie Whoa Oh on bass, Julie Tibbitt on glockenspiel, and since-replaced drummer Mike Faloon - utilizes a variety of 50�s rock n roll tropes like surf and doo-wop as well as chugging power-chord punk to maintain a light-hearted sense of camp. Yeah, it�s a little sloppy and stupid in places, but that�s kind of the point. �Honor Role� kicks things off by introducing us to the class, uh, band; �Sputnik� finds humor in Cold War paranoia; �Bake Sale� gets all the kids dancing in the cafeteria to raise money for God-knows-what; and �Scoliosis� is the catchiest song about a disease since Huey Smith caught the rockin� pneumonia and boogie woogie flu. High school hasn�t been this much fun since P.J. Soles danced up and down the halls with the Ramones. I can�t wait for sophomore year.
Vice Magazine by DAVEY SPAZZFIELD
LLC is a concept band dreamed up by Maximum Rock and Roll�s Bill Florio, where every song evokes some kind of scholastic/educational theme. If you think overexplaining it ruins the joke, wrong�the joke ruins the joke. And that�s the funny part. See, there�s multilayered retardation and cleverness that can be peeled back, but underneath everything are actually six or seven above-average pop-punk songs that I really want to hate but actually like a lot.
Readjunk.com by Adam Coozer
Many older pop punk troubadours sing about high school girls and teenage angst, but Lost Locker Combo take it to a whole other level, their image and theme being entirely devoted to all things high school. It's more than a little weird, since the members look to be in their 30s. Over-the-top cutesiness like matching school band uniforms, heavy use of glockenspiel, and baby doll female background vox add to the creepy factor.
Gimmick aside, though, the music is nicely punchy and poppy with 50s-style upbeat vocal harmonies and inventive male-female vox interplay. This would be a great pop-punk album if it weren't so annoyingly goofball and shlocky. In that sense, they remind me of The Go-Nuts and NOFX: good, peppy punk tunes that are ruined by relentless shtick.
peacedogman.com by Michels
Oh my God...haven't we had enough of this?! Remember the mid-nineties, all these nerdy high school-ish bands like WEEZER, NERF HERDER, KARA'S FLOWERS and even worse, WHEATUS? Bands like WEEZER did prove there was still room for intelligent power punk pop, but the rest of them just vanished into history. I guess those days are back with a second arrival of these nerds.
LOST LOCKER COMBO takes it even a step further (aren't we lucky?), not only focusing on the good 'ol high school days, but dressing like they're still attending science class. The CD booklet is laid out like a program for the next semester. Hell, they even have cheerleaders in the band contributing screams and rah-rahs in the background. Plus, they've incorporated a glockenspiel. I guess that's nice for one song or maybe two, but hearing the damn thing on nearly the whole album makes me wanna kill myself.
Musically speaking, every song sound alike in the same uptempo punky style. The production is tough to take, giving the disc a murky, messy vibe. Overall, it just sounds totally outdated. Seriously, if you want to experience men in their midlife crisis, just rent the movie "Old School".
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$10