Hey Suburbia / Radiation (2022, Reissue)
Wanna Smash Sensation is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my entire life. Since the fateful day that I bought the CD from Flipside records in the 90s, I've been completely obsessed with it. It's just a perfect punk/pop record. This version is a new reissue from Italy on blue vinyl, with a couple of bonus tracks added on for good measure. Sure, I've had this record in my collection forever, but it's the sort of album I will buy every possible variation of. So here's another for the shelf.
It is really hard for me to adequately articulate what it is about this record that I love so much. Sure, the songs are great and it's easy to say that, but I have a much harder time pinning down what it is that makes these songs so special to me. They're catchyand that goes a long way for sure. But I think what makes everything truly special is the balancing act the band does between the songs written by Andrew Molloy and those written by Rob Nesbitt. It's not that they write songs that are complete opposites of each other, but it's the subtle differences in each that the band coalesces around.
Songs by Molloy are hook machines. Perfect pop with rock and roll underpinnings. Nesbitt's songs are a little more aggressively punk, but never sacrificing melody and sing along choruses. A cut of the knife rather than the party anthem is how that difference has been explained and I can't think of a more perfect way describe it.
This pressing sounds great and looks just as nice. The two bonus tracks are the same two on the Japanese version of the CD. "Lift Up Your Hood" a DMZ cover originally from the Smugglers split 7"and their version of the Misfits' "Bullet" was a B side from the "Debbiespeak" 7". I don't know that either cover really adds anything to an album where the originals are so ridiculously great, but they are here for the listening and both are fun to check out.
If for whatever reason you don't already have this record in your collection, now is the time to get it. I can't imagine going through the last 28 some odd years of my life without it, so if it's an omission in yours, fix that.
Bum - Wanna Smash Sensation:
https://bummusic2.bandcamp.com/album/wanna-smash-sensation
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