Mixtapes are one of the best things about Cincinnati aside from the Reds and Barbecue Revue.  But since I’m going vegetarian and it’s not baseball season, they’re the best.  Over the past two years, they’ve put out a lot of music.  By my count, I think they put out four EPs (including a split with Milwaukee’s Direct Hit!, who are also great) and a full-length.  The full-length is 18 minutes and the rest of their discography can fit on one CD, so it’s only natural that the first pressing of their first album, Maps, has an extra EP on the b-side of the record.

This is all from a band who didn’t really ever have a proper release for their first album.  Internet label Death To False Hope Records released Maps to message board acclaim and those in the know were huge fans.  The super-relatable lyrics combined with the sugary pop-punk made for an irresistible album.

Maps is 18 minutes of great pop-punk.  The album opens with, “When did my friends start doing cocaine and complaining, I’m not complaining,” which is one of the best opening lines in forever.  This isn’t a complex album.  It’s very blunt album with lyrics like, “’F—k the world!’  Now I feel a little better.”  With the amount of simplicity that’s in here, this album is undeniable proof that things don’t need to be complicated to be good.  Like a lot of great art, you could listen and say, “I could do this,” but you didn’t.  That’s why it works so well.

Maps only takes up the A-side of a 12” record, so as soon as it’s over, it’s pretty tempting to put the needle back at the beginning and listen again, but the B-side has a pleasant surprise for fans of the band who have heard more than Maps.  It’s called Companions and it’s got rerecorded versions of songs that were originally acoustic, including the group’s best song to date, “Soup’s Whatever.”   The new song, “6 Quarters,” is also a prime example of why this band is so beloved by their fans.

I don’t know what it is about this band that makes me love them more with every new release.  Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for boy-girl vocals, or maybe it’s because I saw vocalists Ryan Rockwell and Maura Weaver do an acoustic set with Mikey Erg (of the Ergs!, one of the best pop-punk bands ever) in a pool at a Ramada Inn in Kentucky.  Maybe it’s because I love Die Hard 3 as much as Ryan does or maybe it’s because most of their records have Cam’ron lyrics pressed into the runoff grooves.  Maybe it’s because Ryan was cool enough to hang out with me for a little at Riot Fest when I saw Descendents.  Maybe it’s because, “All I’ve got in this world is like $35 and a small amount of skill,” is far too relevant lyric for my life than I’d like it to be.

All I know is this: Maps and Companions is a great debut album.  It may be cheating since it’s a rerelease, but it’s a classic.  I mentioned Cincy’s Barbecue Revue above.  It’s a barbecue joint that has a huge fake pink pig out in front of the place.  It’s dirty inside, with crappy wooden booths and it looks like it went out of business years ago, but it has the best barbecue in the city and I’d rank it among the best I’d ever had.  That’s what Mixtapes are: they’re a band without pretenses whose actual substance is what makes them excellent.  With their output at the level it is and them signing to No Sleep Records, expect to see more from them soon.

 9/10

By: Jay Papandreas

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