BOX CAR RACER
self-titled (EMI)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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When future archeologists unearth the artifacts of the last 10 years in American culture, they will most certainly sit around their dig site, sip futuristic protein drinks and ponder the phenomenon of deliberately iconoclastic, upper middle class suburban pop-punk. They'll read lyric sheets and wonder how bands such as Korn and Blink-182, lauded by slobbering legions of their frat boy fans and wealthy beyond belief, could remain so sullen and disaffected. If somehow they find stores of technology as "retro" as a compact disc player in the rubble and listen, they'll wonder how, with the amazing proliferation of print and electronic media, none of these bands could locate something as archaic as a thesaurus.

Box Car Racer is band whose self-titled album is filled with all of the thundering guitars and sneering, boyish vocals of the above described genre. Their music can be characterized by simple disillusionment and the precocious disenfranchisement made mainstream by their forerunners. Somewhere along the line, short catchy songs about passing notes through the halls and the indescribable feeling of teenage angst were charming, but I've forgotten when that exactly was. I am, after all, no archeologist.

© 2002 - Erick Mertz