Review Summary: Pop-Punk Nostalgia In CD Form.
For as much as I loathed it when I attended, I have mostly fond memories of my high school experience. As a chronic underachiever I never really worried about grades or homework, I was just there to have fun and make the best of it. Ironically my time in school was spent much like my time on Sputnik. There would be a group of us in the back of the class room completely ignoring whatever topic was being lectured on in favor of comparing two alike but completely different bands. Someone would call someone else a faggot, the rest of us would take sides, and the conversation would abruptly end. Sometimes it seemed that the only band that my circle of friends could actually agree on was Normal Like You. Their pseudo-technical take on pop-punk was edgy enough for the scene kids and was catchy enough for those who spent the rest of their high school career crying over the demise of Blink-182.
Despite being only 17 minutes long, the five tracks presented on Normal Like You's
The Worst of Many Flaws have become intertwined with my high school experience. Like any pop-punk album released this decade,
The Worst of Many Flaws has its fair share of catchy hooks and infectious melodies. The best example of this is the EP's obvious standout track "Patience Is a Virtue". With its rumbling bass, finger tapped verses and melodic breakdown of an ending its obvious why the song has become a fan favorite. The closing track "Help Wanted" follows on a similar path as it's weaving guitar lines build to a somewhat dated but still entertaining breakdown laden sing-a-long chorus. But ot everything is perfect as there a couple problems with
The Worst of Many Flaws. "My Intentions" is the EP's ballad and it has the burden of being sandwiched right in between the two heaviest songs on the EP. This drastically kills the momentum that was built over the previous three tracks. The other issue is vocalist Jon Williams. Throughout most of the EP he's a more than competent vocalist but when he falters it can be a distraction as it tends to lead to some flat notes.
For me
The Worst of Many Flaws acts as a period piece. Whenever I want to conjure up memories of skipped classes, missed curfews, and the weekend scene I just give it a spin. Now while it obviously wont have the same effect on everyone else,
The Worst of Many Flaws is a little known release from an under appreciated band that fans of pop-punk and post-hardcore should find entertaining.
For those that are interested the EP is streaming @ http://www.last.fm/music/Normal+Like+You/The+Worst+Of+Many+Flaws
