It’s always interesting to see what lands in my mailbox. Here is the CD "On Top Of The Bottom" by "GREEN.FROG.FEET". It’s interesting because after a brief first listen, I had to start some necessary research. As someone who has been dealing with various genres of the vast punk rock universe for a long time, several question marks arose, which are now clarified. ++++ To begin with, this can be categorized somewhere in punk rock, but in the realm of high school college punk, as made popular by bands like Blink or SUM41. However, it doesn’t quite fit, as it’s much too rocky at times, sometimes small, sometimes big, occasionally a bit Green Day, but damn accessible for young people. ++++ I had question marks when I pondered the band's age. Much of this sounds so predictable that I was already sure it had to be a young band. The structure of the pieces, the chord progressions, the breaks, the songwriting are all too obvious, even if the official promotional text sees it differently. Sorry, but I don’t recognize the "gripping, melodically pulsating punk rock" as particularly remarkable. The "stylistic delicacies, airy details, and astonishing changes in direction that create a finely drawn tension curve throughout the songs" also remain distant to me. I’ve heard it all before and it’s not new. Nevertheless, the CD runs smoothly and leaves no doubt that good music of the genre is being offered here. After all, this is already the band's fourth release. A certain level of expectation should be allowed. ++++ The research results were surprisingly revealing. The band from Regensburg has been around for 10 years. It’s astonishing that I’ve never encountered them. Even more surprising is that the band can already look back on several successes, including being awarded "MTV Best New Rocker" in 2005 for their second album "SCORE", and supporting acts for Simple Plan, Silverstein, and Pink. In the vast expanse of the internet, I also found a rather disheartening comment about the concert of Pink and the Regensburg band. "….Pseudo-rebel meets pseudo-rocker from Germany…." ++++ It’s not that bad, as there are 13 tracks over nearly 41 minutes that certainly know how to please in the genre. By the way, I really like "But You Can Tell Me Tomorrow", maybe it’s due to its scalability. ++++ Some listening samples can be found on Myspace, and if all goes well, the band can present a well-filled concert calendar.
