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Centerfuse
It’s hard to talk about a band maturing without making it sound like they’ve gotten boring or stale. Usually it’s a term reserved for a band getting old and losing a bit of their edge. Because of this, I was hesitant to use the word at all in describing this record, but it’s the most fitting thing to say. The Steinways have taken the sound they’ve been developing over the course of the last album and few 7”s and matured into what I’m hearing on Gorilla Marketing. The last releases have all been great, but this LP feels like they’ve fully realized their sound. The band has gotten a little older (as Grath acknowledges in one of the first lyrics) and a little more self-effacing, but hasn’t lost any of what makes them fun and funny.
There’s no drastic change in sound, more of a natural progression from the Peabodys split and pizza 7”. It’s the Steinways doing what they’ve been doing all along, only better in every way. The instrumentation is tighter, the drum fills are better, the harmonies are more fleshed out and more frequent, and the songwriting is a step above anything else they’ve released. Some of these songs have been staples of their live set for quite a while now, and it’s great to finally have a studio recording to listen to (especially "Oh My Fucking Gosh"). Even the songs I’ve been familiar with from shows have some extra touches here and there that make them feel new. The band stretches outside of their usual style of pop-punk on a handful of songs, most notably “Oh Angela” and “Nobody Wants To Make Out With Me Because I Wear Sweatpants.” The former is slower and more downbeat than expected, while the latter is almost new wave with its sequenced drums and 80s sounding guitar lead. Rather than stick out as sore thumbs, though, they fit in remarkably well. Adding some more variety, guitarist Ace sings lead on 2 songs and bassist Michelle takes the mic on the majority of “It’s My Hair.” All 3 songwriters’ styles fit together incredibly well to make a well-rounded but still consistent record.
The record’s sequencing is key in maintaining a balance between the more standard Steinways style songs and the ones that stretch out a bit. The band takes full advantage of the inherent similarity in the sound of pop punk songs to tie the whole thing together. Familiar rhythms keep everything flowing in a way that accentuates both the individual songs’ strength and the cohesiveness of the whole LP. Whereas the last album had a number of references to outside bands and influences, this one makes great use of self-referential melodies and lyrics to poke some fun at the slightly more serious tone of the album. Not to mention the fact that it gives the whole thing an even stronger sense of consistency. The lyrics are, at times, both more serious and more ridiculous than before, sometimes in songs that are placed back to back on the record (“Half Baked Heartache”/”Manhattan Boots”). “CGI”, the second to last track and last one with vocals, seems to sum up the whole record, building to a perfect finale where Grath declares “nothing will ever really be the same” before shifting into a short, country-tinged instrumental to finish side B. It’s as if they chose the song to end the record on a more down, world-weary note than it started, and also to hammer home the last lyric of the preceding song.
More important than anything else, though, is that the record manages to do all this and is still this much fun to listen to. The Steinways have come a long way, and they’ve managed to pretty much do everything right on this release. It comes out in June on Cold Feet Records, if you’re a fan of the old stuff or curious about one of the best new pop punk bands around, definitely pick this up.
- joethebone, Centerfuse
Mammoth Press
It’s amazing just how versatile three chords, sweet melodies, and well timed harmonies can be in skilled hands. Like the pop rock of the 50’s that has so seemingly influenced them The Steinways have managed to take the simple formula of caffeinated pop punk and firmly make it their bitch. Featuring three vocalists who all take part in the harmonies of the other’s songs Gorilla Marketing is the rare album these days that could be released acapella and still lodge itself firmly in your brain for weeks on end. At times serving the place of keyboards with “oohs” and “ahhs” or adding a trace of bubble gum back up parts, the barely produced vocals on this record are worth the half paragraph I’ve devoted to them. But I like to think the vocals are only so good because of the tunes they’ve got to sing over.
While their debut LP Missed the Boat was a sugary love letter to Screeching Weasel and The Queers, Gorilla Marketing shows a sound that flirts with 90’s indie pop like Superchunk (or their friends in Lemuria) only super sped up. It isn’t to say the band has gone all Matador records on us, as the album still features all the masturbation and heartbreak obsessed lyrics fans have come to love. While the band is still undeniably pop punk the song structures here flirt with everything from twee pop to doo-wop, and it makes every single blink and it’s over track a gloriously different twist on the last. The Steinways have yet to let me down with any of their releases in their short existence and they don’t start on Gorilla Marketing. Sure they’re still “feeling all emo since they ran out of weed” but if a lack of a stash keeps them pumping out killer pop punk at the pace they’ve kept up in the last few years lets keep that war on drugs thing a going.
- John-Michael Bond, Mammoth Press
Jersey Beat
Show biz people say that comedians say funny things, but comics say things funny. Grath Madden comes about as close as anyone I can think of to a pop-punk comic genius, and his dry self-deprecating wit has never been sharper than on the Steinways’ long-awaited second full-length. Gorilla Marketing could easily have been titled "27;” it’s a concept album of sorts about the existential angst of a late-twentysomething - shitty temp jobs, pathetic sex life, and no prospects of anything getting better anytime soon. What could have been whiney and self-indulgent in less capable hands emerges as lively, goofy fun with the Steinways, though, as Grath complains about his band, his job, and his love life in about equal measure. Grath does step out of his own self-referential rut on a few tracks, like the teenage lament "Nobody Wants To Make Out With Me (Because I Wear Sweatpants,)" which might have been written by King Dork protagonist Sam Hellerman. And while the woe-is-me theme of "Oh, Angela" might be familiar, it finds Madden breaking out his usual chugga-chugga songwriting pattern for what could pass as one of Joe Queer’s melodic power-pop gems. Another standout track, "Attaching Transmittals To Erection Drawings," rants against crappy temp jobs (and lack of career goals,) and includes the classic line "and now a little money’s a whole lot of spent." Guitarist Ace chimes in with two gems on which he sings lead, the romantic misadventure "Oh My Fucking Gosh" (a live favorite for a while now,) and the aptly-titled "Good Grief," in which Aces notes that he has about the same luck dating as Charlie Brown. And it’s nice to hear bassist Michelle coming out of her shell and adding more vocals here. Of course, nothing’s ever perfect; this is still The Steinways, so yes, there are the requisite 60-second throwaway pop-punk ditties, which are always good for a chuckle but always leave me wanting more. Still, it’s good to hear Grath working up many of his songs into fuller, longer, more fully-realized compositions. I honestly don’t think the guy knows how good he is; but considering how little else he has going for him, my advice is simple: Dude, fuck the day job; don’t give up your band.
- Jim Testa, Jersey Beat
Jersey Beat
Ah, the Steinways, one of my favorite underground bands in New York right now. Everything this band has put out thus far has been golden, which is why I have a love/hate relationship with Gorilla Marketing. Before I endeavor to expand on why, let it be stated that what I am dealing with here is a classic case of the confused sophomore album: The kind which wants to retain the charm of its debut but to also connect with a whole new audience. The end result is a messy platter of failed experiments and some killer summer anthems.
These guys still know how to draw in a listener with their opener. The inappropriately titled "Arena Rock" ticks all the right boxes. Infectious leads with playful, bouncing lyrical hooks are a relief and brace for what is to be a bumpy ride. To rival Grath’s captivating inaugural tune, Ace pulls off a stunner of a chant-a-long, "Oh My Fucking Gosh," which pays homage to the Ramones in its genius simplicity. On the flipside, a more obscure influence creeps in with the standout "Oh, Angela," where the guitars echo those of the underrated garage-pop outfit, Superchunk. Moreover, the album suddenly becomes more varied in the latter tracks. "Make Out," a choppy mechanical-sounding freakout, sits besides "CGI," which starts off sounding like this album's "Dear Girl" but progresses into something outstanding, albeit inferior.
The more negative aspects are petty, but somehow manage to stick out like a thorn. The most noticeable example is the lack of cohesion demonstrated in parts of Grath’s writing. It’s a mystery how craftily worded verses such as "You just keep on talking, but I don’t wanna hear it, 'cause I’m getting sick and tired of this teenage bullshit" could possibly regress to "girl oh girl oh girl I want a girly girl." If it’s a joke, I’m not laughing. It often feels that a structure I once adored has been trivialized. It should be noted that the criminally boring and plodding "Manhattan Boots" should be used for torture purposes only, and that it boggles my mind that more people haven’t hailed "The 400th Blows" as a standout cut. I also can’t help but notice the horrendously thoughtless sequencing on this album. It is apparent that the work ethic of producing a careful and considered arrangement has been overlooked in this instance – I swear they’ve just shuffled the tracks on Windows Media Player… Or did they just pull them out of a hat or something? Talk about anti-climax! Oh, and Michelle can’t sing, but she knows the workings of a pop song like the back of her bra.
While it is a shock to the system to encounter only a near perfect effort from this wonderful pop-punk quartet after a torrent of absurdly addictive releases, it would be rather academic to compare it to the urgency of its predecessors at such an early stage in their "career." As strange a concept as this may seem: Gorilla Marketing is a flawed album which you need to rush out and buy right now! I still have the highest expectations of this group, and I can say with the utter most honesty that at this point I feel that the style of their sound is something potentially immortal, but still in somewhat of an embryonic stage. But hey, this is the Steinways I’m talking about; if they brought out a set of gardening tools and carved their name into them, I would sell my body to acquire it.
- Dick Nothing, Jersey Beat
Punk or Nothing
I'll admit it - this record didn't appeal to me at first. It felt bored, tired and not half as catchy as their previous work. What was I thinking?!? Well, about Missed The Boat, really. That was instantaneous, hard-hitting and it left the listener able to fall in love with its catchy pop-punk ditties from the get go. With Gorilla Marketing, the Steinways make you work for your 'food' much more - but it ends up paying off in dividends. It may not hit you straight away, but when it does, you will be nothing short of blown away by Gorilla Marketing.
Although I would still probably put the two on a par, everything that was great on Missed the Boat has been turned up a notch here - the sweet guitar sounds (just listen to "The 400th Blows" or "It's My Hair" for clarification), the pure infectiousness of some of the songs on show here (I assure you- this will not leave your head for at least a year or so) and the lyrical basis, the idea of "missing the boat." What's more, Gorilla Marketing presents a greater sense of an ensemble cast than Missed The Boat did - everyone plays their part here. Ace provides only two songs, but it's no coincidence they're two of the finest made Steinways songs yet. "Oh My Fucking Gosh" is a pleasant romp into the realm of catchy-as- influenza pop-punk that many bands would die for, and "Good Grief" provides a danceathon of punk rock, lyrical wit and, umm, drunkenness. Michelle, on the other hand, penns a song, admist various other part roles, in "It's My Hair" which is adept both musically and lyrically, and is one of the finest (if not the finest) on Gorilla Marketing. The line "Oh I wanna leave today, I wanna go, go, go so far away" leaves you with visions of thousands singing along to it, being a sentiment many can relate to. But fear not Grath fans - Mr. Madden is on his usual top form throughout. Key songs of his here being the infectious "Attaching Transmittals to Erection Drawings" and hard-hitting opener "Arena Rock."
Lyrically, Gorilla Marketing is much more the cohesive beast than its predecessor. The themes are clear and constant throughout - disillusion, alienation, girl troubles and a sense of lost ambition. And it works wonderfully, portraying the boredom and frustrations of the mid-twenties zeitgeist with panache, as someone who is clearly ill at ease with the world. "Attaching Transmittals to Erection Drawings" shows the protagonist's dissatisfaction with the office job ("I'm starting to think that instead of college/I should've just gone to hi-liting school"), "The 400th Blows' brings up the idea of the lost ambition ("I had a memory of a vision of plan/But I missed that boat, that ship has failed") and the sense of boredom is highlighted on "Missed The Boat" ("I sit here staring at the wall/Mentholated smoke has blended in"). There really are way too many examples to list here, even though sometimes the idea of this disillusion is turned on its head: "Really not that much has changed at all since I was there/And a part of me hopes that it never will" ("Missed the Boat".) And, of course, the tongue in cheek humour is evident throughout, working just as well it ever has ("While I stew here in my sweatpants/Everyone makes out with you/So why can't I?")
If there's anything that you may not like about this record, it may be the over-done amount of swearing, which loses its meaning after about the two-hundredth fuck, or it may be the constant references to their previous record (regarding the "feeling all emo" thing - you should never repeat a joke twice). But really, by doing this you would be nitpicking on what is a damn fine sophomore effort. There really is only one band who could have made Gorilla Marketing. Steinways, you bring ninety-percent of other pop-punk bands to shame once again. Congratulations.
- Skankin' D, Punk or Nothing
Razorcake
The Steinways are funny, for two reasons. The first is literally speaking, as every time I see them I’m usually cracking up by the end of their set. The other is when their first full length came out a while back, it had some really great pop punk songs on it, in between a bunch of songs that were basically three chords, one quick lyric, and done in about five seconds. Since then, it felt like a bunch of people gave them shit, saying “Yer songs are good! Keep writing songs longer then like, five seconds!” and so this time around the quick songs are gone (they’re all at least a minute now), and it feels much more consistent. Musically speaking, it’s not too different, as they remain a band who’s clearly heavily influenced by all the classic Lookout!, Mutant Pop, and so forth trademark pop punk, but without just being another (insert-another-band-here)-core rip off. It helps that there’s a very Off With Their Heads-esque “I’m broke/hate my life right now” theme to a bunch of the songs, as well as the fact that they don’t take anything TOO seriously (including taking what would normally be some bands throwaway/”jokey” song like “Sweatpants”, and making it a legitimately fucking great song). In hindsight, it’s getting to the point where reading this will take longer than listening to the a-side, so I’ll just end with this; The “I’ve got a five dollar bill and a coupon for two/lets go to Boston Market so I can show you how much I love you” line fucking KILLS me every time. Awesome.
- Joe Evans III, Razorcake
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