Angel Du$t : "BRAND NEW SOUL"

The band's 2016 album "Rock the Fuck On Forever" . Since then things have changed. One of them being after guitarist Brendan Yates joined the band in 2017 his other band Turnstile blew the fuck up. This might not weigh on this album, as Yates does not contribute to it, but Tripp continues to make it a collective jam.. There is less of a punk vibe and more of a rambling strum of acoustics that has more in common with Sublime, and at times the less funky moments of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. There is a lo-fi experimental feel to the opening track. The guitar jangles a great deal with unenthused vocals pondering over it. There is a bit of a hook, and impressive guitar playing floating around it. It resembles Tripp's old band Trapped Under Ice very little even when the guitar gets more balls on "Love Slam" 

At times this might be to happy for me, which Tripp has said this project is more about love, so it is consistent with that . With songs like "Racecar" I am surprised these guys do not have more of a following down here on the beaches of Florida where I live now. There is a difference between experimental, and inspired , "Racecar" falls more on the experimental side, as they throw a great deal of sounds at it , but the songwriting feels less focused. "Space Jam" is a one and a half punk song, that really does not have a great deal to it. It's reckless and faster, but not aggressive. There is more of a rude boy style to "Born 2 Run" which also has a glaze of pop to it. The jazz influenced guitar is pretty sweet.

"Very Aggressive" is another dip back into punk. It's more driven by the bass, the vocals work really well on it when it builds momentum, making this one of the album's stronger songs. Most of the songs are under three minutes, so there is punk formula in place to the one , two, three go, don't fuck around attitude in place. That is also taking into consideration the hippie moods they party around here. as long as they are focused more on songs than sounds things work out for the best , even when they get too happy with songs like "I'm Not Ready". 

They are not afraid to take chances here and it shows. This makes some of the more punk moments work better when contrasted with pop songs, as on their own as punk songs they might not be as impressive. "Waste of Space " feels almost more rock n roll. The strum of the last song, shows them capable of making pop for today's slackers, I will give this album a 9.