Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 9.0
Production: 7.5
Originality: 9.5
Tracklisting
2. VCG III
3. Consequential Apathy
4. Analog Boy
5. Get
6. All The Time
7. In All Rwanda's Glory
8. Babylon
9. Who Would've Thought
10. Status
11. Anyone But You
12. Nugget
13. Progress
14. Nothing's Sacred
15. Infection
The Rx Bandits have somewhat created their own style of emo, ska, and pop punk, combined with tons of energy that never seems to expire. Their first release, "Halfway Between Here and There" was a great release with slower, "chill" ska tunes, much in the vein of something like Sublime. With their new CD, "Progress," the band shows growth unseen before.
With an intro full of synth effects and electronic vibes, the CD definitely shows that the Rx Bandits are not what they once were. In the first song, VCG III, there's a much "harder" sound to the band, with blazing guitars and very little "cleanliness." They sound really full of energy and yell a lot in the song, as they do in the rest of the CD. #3 has a little more of their old sound, with a totally different sound (from #1), but it's not close to sounding like their first record. "Analog Boy" starts out with a really cool smooth intro, and busts into a fast, very straight-forward pop punk tune. If you haven't heard it, and you like Drive-Thru Records, I'd be very suprised (it was on like all of their recent freebee comps). The rest of the CD has a lot of obvious expression and energy in it, and all of the songs vary a lot. There's a lot more keyboard work as well, and tons more "distortion." "In All Rwanda's Glory" reminds me of the old Rx Bandits I used to know, with a lot of keyboards in it.
The Rx Bandits surely have made obvious Progress, and I suggest everyone catch them on their tour. This CD is quite a bit different from the first release, but not in a bad way; it shows growth. I don't like it as much because I liked their original slow, smooth ska/punk mix. Not to say there isn't any of that sound in here, but it just sounds like a lot of the stuff is more jumbled and complicated. I guess that's the way to describe this new album: more complex.