Review: With the Punches: Keep It Going EP

With the Punches’ debut EP, Keep It Going, is a solid first showing in what should prove to be a very bright future for the group from New York. While the Pop/Punk genre seemed to be on the outs in recent times, With the Punches throws some stakes into the ground to make sure things aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

While the band cites the likes of New Found Glory and Blink-182 as influences (presumably the old Blink… who knows how they’ll sound reuniting after all these years), the group manages to take those sounds to create a new one that is entirely their own. True, you’ll hear some echoes of Sticks and Stones here and there, but there still remains the distinct feeling that you are listening to something new rather than derivative, and that new is good. More than that the music will remind fans of the genre what got them listening in the first place. The 7 song EP delivers what might be some of the best efforts we’ve heard in years from the genre with the songs Burned At Both Ends, Thrill Your Idols, and the title track Keep It Going, while Slizzard Crossing and Stick and Move pay homage to the traditions that made Pop/Punk… well, “Pop”

To be honest, the EP is surprisingly strong with all tracks delivering on a promise you would never expect a new band to make good on. The songs are catchy and infectious in a bob your head, sing–a–long in the car at the top of your lungs kind of way. Good luck trying to get through a listen without a single finger tap or smile.

At the end of the day this EP is, without a question, a great lead–in for the band and sure to win listeners over with repeated play in their iPods and car stereos. While the album suffers from a few production–stage mishaps and audio balancing quirks (really not the band’s fault and quite common for new artists — see Good Charlotte’s debut album), that nuance appears to be the EP’s only noticeable mis–step in what is otherwise a fine end product.

Quite simply, you should give the band a chance and listen to their tracks now readily available on iTunes and on their MySpace page (which I hope they will soon leave in the dust like the rest of the world should). If you are already a fan, now is the time to place bets and get in on the ground floor while you still can…

Find More Information: MySpace.com, View album on iTunes