Album Review :: The Scutches :: Ten Songs, Ten Years

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

Pop punk fans, get excited, Long Island’s The Scutches will be releasing Ten Songs, Ten Years this week. Though The Scutches have been around for ten years and six releases and I only knew them from the Bright and Barrow comp, Cause A Scene. Man was I missing out, for those of you are also unfamiliar with The Scutches, they are the direct descendants of The Dead Milkmen, Queers, with a dash of The Ramones.

Ten Songs, Ten Years kicks off with the lyrics, “My heart’s not dead” before launching into a solid 26 minutes of pop punk goodness. They power through one track to the next with barely a breath in between, covering all the traditional pop punk subjects, wanting to go out with a girl, going out with a girl, and breaking up with a girl. The last two (technically three songs), though about girls, deviate into the ballad form. Track 9, In My Dreams, is not just any ballad, it is beautiful, quiet and gentle. Track 10, Only For A Minute, also a ballad, begins with a slow, deep, menacing voice then breaks out into a great pop punk ballad. This track keeps the pop punk feel (and voice) and shoves it in to the ballad style.There is a secret song on this album, and I have already said how I feel about them. This one is an acoustic song that can’t help but trigger a comparison to the secret song on Dookie.

Aside from the sticky sweet catchiness that forces you to sing along, one thing I really love about super pop punk, it that it can get away with inappropriate lyrics like “I want to drink until we both pass out / so we can wake up together again”. The sugar coated tone can make even the creepiest ideas seem innocent and almost romantic. Any of these tracks can their way onto a “be my girlfriend” mix tape…or mix cd…or playlist…Honestly, what do people do these days?

All in all Ten Songs, Ten Years is a super fun pop punk record for all of us who unabashedly love The Mr. T Experience and are excited to know that that style of punk is not dead. Ten Songs, Ten Years will be available on Bright and Barrow via digital download and a limited pressing of 12” on translucent orange vinyl on May 29th. You can preorder it here (every preorder gets a copy of 2007’s Vinny Gets a Job). In the meantime Amp is streaming Summer Night and AP is streaming Don’t Go.