In their high school in California, friends Elijah Reyes and Daniel Dart made great haste to hand out flyers and stickers, promoting a band called
Time Again, and the shows to follow. At the time, this said band didn’t have any material or a full band whatsoever. Out of pure excitement, Dart and Reyes promoted something that simply didn’t exist yet. If that’s not stupid, blind, half-assed planning at its best, please come forward. They eventually picked up two others to play with and developed an E.P that would be the beginning of their first North American tour. It was foolish, but it shows true cojones, not only because of the risk of not obtaining material, but because getting high schoolers excited for nothing these days is like personally asking for a kick in the ass.
Time Again is a punk band from Los Angeles that is fueled on other punk influences from the 90’s. After touring around their E.P, they got picked up by Hellcat Records and got a contract for 2 albums. Their debut,
The Stories Are True seems entirely mounted on the hands of the label, and includes much help from professionals and excellent production. They are currently stated as a lost brother of The Unseen. This can be true on many levels, but in the end, it’s very irrelevant. Time Again is centered around average rhythms and a crunching set of chords to excite any oblivious Unseen and Casualties fan, as noticeable from the said remark. Vocalist Daniel Dart is a box full of impressions, and rarely comes out with the voice he was independently given. This can also be said for a large portion of the band, but not to be taken in a misleading fashion at all. The band also has a flashy side of originality other bands their age just can’t make out for a living ***. All this counts, and sometimes, on choice tracks, it is all that’s shown.
One thing that impresses me from the band is the key to any successful production. Determination, and above all; talent. Guitarist Elijah Reyes is outstanding, working solely on the fact that his overdubbed riffs and grooves is all he has. He’s the only guitarist in the band, and seeing to me as this concept usually fails, he pulls forward with incredibly fierce actions, both simplistic and complex. He can work from his ska groove on
Streetwalker all the way to a brutal uppercut of a solo on the more rapid-fired heavier tracks as
Criminals and
Dead Nights. His playing doesn’t fall far from the bunch when it comes to everyday punk, but the fact that he can go this far and is still able to lean forward to join the rest for the acrid chorus of
Junkies is something to admire when in the perspective of the listener.
The couple Dart and Reyes picked up ending up as the rhythmic section of Time Again. Bassist Brian Burnham and drummer Ryan Purucker do the average job any sharp-edged punk act would do when it comes to keeping perspective of the rhythm and making the base for the dropping bombs. The best phrase to describe the two as a whole would come to be average, unless awakened by something greater. The mellowed-out
Broken Bodies is a great example of this, as Ryan serves a platter of something different, that being something that’s not the repetitive double-bass abomination, and Burnham delivering a moody lick that keeps things more interesting. Also quoted in the album’s last track, these boys work on an average mode unless some space for roaming is targeted.
Danny Dart is one of the best and worst parts of the band. He has a big lack of originality at times, spewing obvious impressions of Tim Armstrong, and Joey Ramone, and then spountaniously comes out with a very unfamiliar voice- his own. Looking on the important bright side, his vocals are very appreciated. He shares lines with Armstrong himself on the title track,
The Stories Are True, a track rooted from pop’s garden, and flowered with punk crunches. His voice, never sounding like the fits The Unseen can deliver, never bothers to scream. This is a plus, as well as a bummer for some songs on here that could have used it well. His vocals on the record shape out the music as a brother of neither Rancid, nor The Unseen.
The themes of the album consist of what the title suggests: True stories, ranging from a drug-addicted freeloader, to an outgoing hooker, to the continuation of the government’s idiocies. All these are something fresh and original, and a breath of fresh air from the average ***-you’s and cliché punk’s circle around nothing. While some of the word-choice on the album may be bad at times, it will always be covered by a thick crust of rapid-fire rhythms. It’s background harmony with a furious kick. Time Again certainly will be a band that’ll stay around for a while, and a new level for anybody between the boundaries of The Specials, and F-Minus.
Time Again:
Daniel Dart- Vocals
Elijah Reyes- Guitar, Background Vocals
Brian Burnham- Bass, Background Vocals
Ryan Purucker- Drums
Stand Out Tracks:
Junkies
Broken Bodies
The Stories Are True
Streetwalker
Stud-Spewed Fury.
3.5/5
