Ten Foot Pole - Bad Mother Trucker
Label: Victory
Rating: 
 

I have to be honest right up front, melodic punk has never called to me, but despite that I did like this album well enough. All in all it's actually very good. Everything is of high quality; the vocals, the music, the lyrics, plus with a title like "bad mother trucker" how could you not like it? Ten Foot Pole seems to walk the fine line between the joke that no one finds funny, pop punk and real stuff. With a listen to this, I could easily picture hearing it on MTV or on heavy rotation on the radio. Which would be a good thing, Ten Foot Pole's album deals with real topics, not braiding your hair or prank calling your girlfiriend's mom. These guys could show Blink and Avril a thing or two about how their craft should be done properly.

My favorite track on the album is "armchair quarterback" a ditty about how when you watch other peoples mistakes from afar you can pick out their mistakes without ever having a responsibility of your own. An example line "an armchair quarterback you never have to lose / armchair quarterback / you never have to wipe the dogs*** from your shoes," which I think sums it up pretty well how these people always come out smelling like a rose while never having to make the hard decisions themselves. One of my other favorite tracks is the rather funny, "I Wannabe Alone," which tells a comical story of wanting to masturbate before going to bed, but the thought of dead relatives watching makes him feel uncomfortable. Maybe I'm perpetually 14, but songs about wanking are always funny. This album is worth checking out if you're a fan of Millenlicoln and that type of music.