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Jersey Beat Zine
This may not be "My Brain Hurts" or "Love Songs For The Retarded," but it just might be as close as you'll get to classic pop/punk in 2006. The Steinways have that uber-catchy post-Ramonesy style down pat but throw just enough twists into the mix- zippy synth riffs, girly backup vocals, and Grath Madden's infectiously warm and inviting vocals - to set these Queens kids apart from the pop/punk pack.
This is a band that loves short tunes - much of this CD is just 10-second song fragments, peppering the set like Rodney Dangerfield one-liners - and they've got a terrific sense of humor too. Grath's self-deprecating lyrics ask such musical questions as why Jewish girls won't have sex with him or why he can't love Ray Romano like the rest of America; "A Door, A Bell" brilliantly turns a doorbell chime into a pop-punk melody, and "Fruitmarket Fantasy" cleverly updates Screeching Weasel's "Supermarket Fantasy" for vegetarians. And finally, "Onlyundiesclub.com" is as close as anyone is ever going to come to what Pansy Division would sound like straight.
This is a really fun record that zips by way too fast. More, please.
- Jim Testa, Jersey Beat
Now Wave
Out of the 30,712 "post Screeching Weasel" pop-punk bands to have emerged from the underground scene over the past 15 years, The Steinways definitely have to rank in the top five. And if right now you're thinking, "Well, that's not saying much!", then rest assured that you won't "get" The Steinways. Turn away from this web page this instant. Go have a slushy. Measure your penis. Blog about your last dentist appointment. Do something besides read the rest of this review. I ain't gonna ever get you to like pop-punk, and you ain't ever gonna get me to hate it. But we can still be friends.
On their new album Missed The Boat , The Steinways recycle nearly every genre staple in the manual - right down to the nasally vocals, "I can't believe it's not Jughead" guitar leads, and well-worn "songs about girls" motif. But so what? Ultimately, good pop-punk is separated from not-so-good pop-punk by two primary things: singing and lyrics. And in both categories, The Steinways earn high marks. The requisite catchy three-chord songwriting and tight, exuberant playing (great drumming especially!) are present for sure...but really it's humor, wit, and sheer likeability that distinguish this group from the typically unmemorable three-chord popsters of the world. Any bunch of idiots can ape The Ramones, but it takes a special kind of genius to make a song about a pornographic web site sound as cheerful and innocent as a Sesame Street sing-along.
In comparison to the great geeks of our time, Steinways singer Grath Madden is neither a hopeless dorkball like Napoleon Dynamite nor a puny sidekick like Screech. He's more spiritually akin to Max Fischer or Anthony Michael Hall in Sixteen Candles - the lovable smart-ass with a perpetual hard-on. He doesn't reinvent the art of pop-punk singing, but he puts so much of himself into it that it sounds like you're hearing a true original. Familiar pop-punk themes abound (falling in love with girls, getting rejected by girls, longing for unattainable girls - you get the picture), but Madden manages to explore them without resorting to self-pity or outright wussiness. Instead he's sarcastic and self-effacing - and fully willing to poke fun at the shy-guy pop-punk persona he so enthusiastically embraces. "So let me ask you a question," he sings. "And I hope the answer's yes/But if it's not/I promise not to drop a tray on your head". Along the way, Madden stops to ponder some of life's great issues: the benefits of aunts dying, the lameness of the Warped Tour, and his failure to see what's so funny about Everybody Loves Raymond (I'm with you there, brother). I'd challenge newly-appointed U.S. poet laureate Donald Hall to top this inspired verse: "And if there's a God/I know he doesn't like me very much/Cause all the girls I like have boyfriends/And they're all stupid, lanky, skinny little fucks/Or stodgy drug-addicted educators".
Of course you need songs to be a top-tier pop group, and Missed the Boat delivers exactly that. "((Holy Shit) I Can't Believe I Still Don't Have) A Girlfriend" is destined to become a pop-punk classic. Other standout tracks include "Why Don't Jewish Girls Like Me?" (kind of like a geek-rock version of Nails' "88 Lines About 44 Women"), the doo wop influenced "Dear Girl", and the totally great Kevins cover "I Wanna Kiss You (On the Lips)". All this, plus cartoon cover art featuring a cheeseburger dressed like a Viking!
Maybe nine out of ten times, I'll hear a band of The Steinways' type and think, "They're okay, but why did they even bother?" Missed the Boat , on the other hand, is an absolute blast! It's an album that pulled me out of a funk at a time when I was starting to get bored with music. It got me to turn off ESPN Radio for a little while and actually listen to some tunes. What can I say? It's a flat-out enjoyable album to hear. This band re-visits a familiar style of music with so much energy, zest, and endearing geekiness that it's impossible to resist its charms. In short, The Steinways are to Screeching Weasel what Old School is to Animal House : not quite as good, but almost! - Lord Rutledge, Now Wave
Mammoth Press
Even the most jaded of metalheads and scenesters finds their fingers dancing over the radio dial to the oldies station every now and then. These timeless songs arent complicated reflections on life or love or the devil. Theyre just simple love songs with bouncing simple melodies that stick in your head tighter than bubble gum to the bottom of your shoe. Everyone can relate to these types of songs, because at the end of the day fun music is frankly something people can get behind.
The Steinways are keeping the memory of those oldies but goodies alive with their infectious power pop punk. Much like the Queers and Ramones, the Steinways feel good sugar buzzes are deeply influenced by the type of simple melodies that made doo woop and classic pop so much fun. Be it feeling all emo since I ran out of weed or where the fucks my sweatshirt! all of the lyrics on Missed the Boat are a blast to sing a long to. This record is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
As an extra bit of icing on the already deliciously sweet cake that is the Steinways the album boasts art work by Mitch Clem of Nothing Nice to Say fame. If youve ever wanted to see a Viking cheese burger youre in luck! All in all this is a great fun summer driving and partying record. Pick it up and rock the beach like no one else. 8 out of 10. - John-Michael Bond, Mammoth Press
Maximum Rock N Roll
I know this band wants to be the male-fronted equivalent of THE UNLOVABLES. This is a good band but there is only one UNLOVABLES. Regardless, the STEINWAYS play speedy pop punk with lots of melodies, and funny lyrics. This is still a good release for you pop punkers who may also be fans of GROOVIE GHOULIES and PARASITES. - Ray Lujan, Maximum Rock N Roll
Punk News UK
The international pop punk scene at the moment seems to be in really good shape. Despite the lack of real pop punkers in the UK, there's a steady stream of great acts coming from abroad, especially the US, with bands like The Leftovers, The Unlovables, The Ergs. and The Steinways.
'Missed The Boat' is a great collection of sweet pop songs with goofy lyrics, almost all of them lamenting over girls. Their sound is very similar to Canadian popsters Chixdiggit, especially vocally, and there's more than a little Queers influence going on, and I'd imagine they'd fit in perfectly on the Honest Don't roster. There's also a nice bonus of having a male/female vocal dynamic, which is used to great effect in places, notably in 'Dear Girl'. There's several short and fun songs, lasting only a few seconds with lyrics like "children, children, why won't you fucking die?" which raise a smile.
For what it is, which is a good-time album full of summer hits, 'Missed The Boat' really hits the spot. It's not groundbreaking or original, it won't go down as a classic, but you will probably dance around your room like a dork singing along to 'Everybody Loves Raymond' at some point, and that's good enough for me.
- Joey T, Punk News UK
Nuthin' Zine
THE STEINWAYS 5 out of 5
MISSED THE BOAT Cold Feet Records
One of the most unique bands in today's pop punk universe, The Steinways knocked me back with this stellar release. They take every punk staple and shake them up, giving them new life and keeping me guessing about just where they'll go with the next song. Grath's vocals are comparable to KJ from Chixdiggit on crack, and whether he's singing about online perversions or anti-semetic rejection, he'll have you singing along while the rest of the band blow your mind with amazingly cute background vocals and incredible bursts of three chord energy that you just have to own and play constantly. All of my reviews end something like this:
DW - Danny White, Nuthin' Zine
Under The Volcano
The Steinways "Missed the Boat" (Cold Feet, POB 91233, Raleigh, NC 27675) For all those out there that think Pop/Punk (or check that: good Pop/Punk) has gone the way of the dinosaur, you need to take a good, hard look at the Steinways. Hailing from Astoria, Queens, the Steinways are an excellent Pop/Punk not unlike all your favorite Lookout bands that rose to greatness in the early-mid 90's. Larry Livermore once wrote something along the lines of The Steinways reminding him of the early days of Green Day, perhaps not as much in sound as in energy and attitude and I can't say I disagree. For fans of the Ramones, Screeching Weasel and the Queers, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that's as good as the Steinways. Just look to "KTV", "(Holy Shit) I Can't Believe I Still Don't Have a Girlfriend, or "Just Friends" as the proof to back up my praise. So don't "miss the boat" (no pun intended, hehe), The Steinways will become mandatory listening in your drab, meaningless life, mark my words. (CD)
- Dan McClernon, Under The Volcano
Punk Planet
This album is fucking awesome. Though it's obvious from their style of music the members of the Steinways worship the Queers and Screeching Weasel, they breathe new life into a genre in which this is incredibly difficult to do so. First of all, this is the way to do a "long" album. Yeah, there's 20 songs on Missed the Boat, but only two top two minutes, and a number are less than one minute long (some even shorter than 20 seconds). Now, in addition the short attention span style of songwriting, there are a number of other excellent factors to this album.
First, the songs themselves are simple, but the structures offer enough changes to keep things interesting within a verse/chorus-like structure. Next, the vocals have great harmonies, but not too many so that it gets irritating. The best part, though, about this album is the lyrics. My girlfriend and I were playing "Super Bust-a-Move" and listening to this disc, and it had us laughing a number of times. Take, for example, "((Holy Shit) I Can't Believe I Still Don't Have) a Girlfriend," when Grath Madden sings what starts out as typical pop-punk bullshit, and then ends with a curveball, "Oh baby / can't you see / I need you here with me / I don't know what to do / All I know is I've been / feeling all emo since I ran out of weed." That is hilarious. Or, take "Warped Tour," for another example: "One million bands / one million hours / too bad all of it sucked." That song is five seconds long. I could listen to this album all fucking day long.
One thing that sort of bugs me about this record, though, is that all of the members of the Steinways are all over 21, but only their bass player (who happens to be dating another member of the band) is under 25. I just want to grab them and shout, "Aren't you too old to be writing these lyrics?!" But the music is so good and heartfelt, I can look past the slight oldness of the members. One word of advice to Grath and Michelle: don't break up, because while I'm sure you're in love or whatever, your band is really, really, fucking awesome. Definitely the sleeper hit of the issue. I'm begging this band to come to Chicago so we can get trashed together. (DH)
- Dave Hoffa, Punk Planet
Centerfuse
I've been waiting for a pop punk record like this to come along for quite a while now. Besides The Ergs!, no one else is doing this style of punk so well these days. The Steinways play the kind of pop punk that Lookout! Records was known for in the 90s, that mixture of 50s rock and roll pop sensibilities with a punk rock tempo. They clearly wear their influences on their sleeves (Screeching Weasel is referenced in a handful of lyrics and a song title, and a vocal melody gives a nod to the Weston tune it's borrowed from), but The Steinways are doing enough to distinguish themselves that they're not just another clone. This LP doesn't waste any time getting to the point; out of 20 songs, about half are under a minute long, and of the rest, only a handful break the 2-minute mark. Their songs are quick, energetic bursts of youthful energy and humor with enough hooks and singalong melodies to make an immediate second listen feel necessary. The vocal melodies and harmonies are really what helps give them an edge over other bands in this genre. There's frequent use of three-part and male/female harmonies to make absolutely sure the hooks get lodged in the listener's head for hours. The lyrics don't stray too far from the usual girl-themed subject matter of this style, but again The Steinways avoid the pitfalls other bands get stuck in. There isn't a sense of melodrama or whining in the lyrics or vocal delivery. In fact, most of the songs have a very healthy dose of humor running throughout. This is yet another vital element of this sound that not enough current bands utilize well. If you're a fan of Weasel or the Queers, definitely go out and grab this. These guys and girl are doing an excellent job, and they've got a new 7" on the way very soon!
- joethebone, Centerfuse
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