Is it a hit, *hit or miss?

Spitalfield - Stop Doing Bad Things  by Travis Becker

posted 04-11-05

Spitalfield - Stop Doing Bad Things
Label: Victory Records
Hit, *hit or Miss?:  Hit
Rating: 
for Emo/Pop-Punk Fans 
  forThe Rest of Us

Oh, to be young and in a band.  Doodling band names and album cover art on the cover of your Trapper Keeper, and rushing home from a long day of school to practice hitting power chords and coordinating chunky skateboard shoes with your collection of thrift store t-shirts. The Pop-Punk and Emo genres exist almost entirely for and because of these kids, who throng the middle and high schools of our nation.  The music can be good or bad, the image is pretty rote, and a tub of margarine is more �in your face� so it�s pretty safe for the parents as well.  The problem I have with this kind of music is that there is rarely anything to bring me back, nothing that makes me want to spin the disc again.  The new release by Chicago�s Spitalfield is no exception. �Stop Doing Bad Things� is a typical release of the genre, so much so, I doubt I could pick it out of a police line up, but then, what are the chances these young men are going to get into that kind of trouble?
 
Spitalfield play the kind of harmless Punk rock that typifies where the genre has wandered in the last five or six years.  These new Emo Punks have tapped into the aggression and restlessness of Punk musically to some extent, but the overriding emotion of this record is one of sadness at the confusion and frustration brought on by life.  They don�t rage against the situation or fight to change it, they�re just a little miffed at it.  The mix of delicate and then raucous passages in the songs remains a consistent pattern by which Spitalfield (and most other Punk bands of similar mind) lay down their songs, which gets a bit repetitive over the course of a full length album.  There�s nothing wrong with that sound if it�s what you�re into, but don�t expect anything bold or new out of this album.  The production is solid, all of the instruments are recognizable and defined, and the songs are cohesive and very hooky.  These tunes will have you tapping your toe, and some of them will stick in your head, but then, commercials do that too.  For borderline fans of Emo and Pop-Punk, �Stop Doing Bad Things� isn�t as wretchedly nice as say, Early November, but there�s nothing here to scare you like the guy in sixth grade gym class who had a moustache and could drive.  This music is made for the legions of shaggy-haired, Playstation-zombified, skateboarders choking the cul-de-sacs of every neighborhood in America.  So, if any of you are reading, this Bud�s for you, hopefully I�m not dating myself too much with that one. 
 
I do have to give credit where credit it due, Spitalfield have improved.  After sampling some of their older material, they have undoubtedly grown as a band.  The songs are less obvious and are fully realized compositions this time around.  The song titles are clever as well, in that sort of unrelated but still related a little kind of way. Songs like �Tampa Bum Blues� and the first single off of the record, �Gold Dust vs. the State of Illinois� show how well these guys can write a hook and then back it up with solid playing.  There is nothing messy or wanton about �Stop Doing Bad Things�.  The band grip the reins
tightly and never let things get out of control. 

Spitalfield doesn�t crank out bad music by any stretch, but I can�t call it Punk either in sound or ideology.  Spitalfield hovers closer to Post-Punk work of bands out of DC and Chicago (who were probably influential), but lack the artistic adventurousness.  It wasn�t for me, but if your parents threw away your new 50 Cent record, give it a go.  It�s a kinder, gentler, sort of rebellion.