The Young Rochelles :: Know The Code :: Greenway Records

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

The Young Rochelles :: Know The Code :: Greenway Records

SoThe Young Rochelles are a splinter of The New Rochelles, who I am totally a fan of. I was a bit confused at first, thinking that I was just typing or remembering the band’s name wrong (and maybe going through a panic or two when posting things to twitter) but once I did a bit of reading I caught up with the times. Though the Young Rochelles are two-thirds the same members of The New Rochelles, there are different music and lyrics writers. Think Descendents vs All.

Though the band is different both the Young and New Rochelles live in this great world of pop punk. One that never left my heart. I am always up for a fun, sometimes silly pop punk song to make me feel fifteen again. Though Know the Code did not make me feel fifteen again, because it deals with longing to be a house husband and accepting responsibilities, it still took me back to my pop punk days. I would have loved this album then, just not identified with the lyrics.

This record is the perfect summertime album. Three tracks of pop punk goodness. The first track Stay-at-Home Man is very reminiscent of mid-career Mr. T Experience (Revenge Is Sweet and So Are You era), with the silly subject matter though a hook that you cannot, I mean, cannot get out of your head. I don’t think that I have ever heard a punk song about longing to be a stay at home husband, hell, I guess that means that we needed one. Track 2, Junkie Rat is a bit aggressive, in a NOFX style (except they would probably take a different stance on the junkie). Still pop punk but with a snotty voice and a cool call back. The last track, Meltdown is a standard pop punk song about a bad relationship.

That balance between the super pop punk sound, crappy adult situations, yet putting a slightly juvenile twist on them, is what makes this album such a good time. I pulls you out of your rut, yeah working a 9 to 5 sucks, but with lyrics like, “My boss is meaner than you could ever be” or “In my last dream / I won the lottery / ‘cause you let me be / your stay at home man” you just can’t take it too seriously anymore. Meltdown is also not the typical breakup song, there is no drama or heartbreak, it is simply about all those little things that eventually annoy you about someone until you realize you can’t stand dating them anymore, that was something I didn’t realize until I was well into my 20s. They walk a cool line, one that I didn’t know existed until I heard this album.

This album is a great time. Summer is made for pop punk. Go pick up Know the Code. Listen to it in the sun, and go to a show and dance around.