ISOTOPES – NUCLEAR STRIKEZONE – Review

The Isotopes? A band raised listening to punk rock, eating pop corn, watching baseball and, why not, the Simpsons…exactly them, those yellow guys that now are a universal cult (from the sick and ingenious mind of Matt Groening). The Isotopes punk rock baseball club were born after the (weak) baseball team from Springfield, the Springfield Isotopes (for a short period of time, Homer was their mascot); we can also say that this false truth brought to some sort of reality, the Albaquerque Isotopes, and then came Nuclear Strikezone, the latest pop and punk rock album from this band!
24 minutes for 11 tracks of pure Ramones’ style, in which their influence is more than evident, especially in songs such as “Never Been Caught”, “Total Juicehead” and “Chicks Dig the Longball”. The tracks also display great precision between riffs, verses and choruses, making them more melodic and introspected; “Night Bus Home to You”, “Hiroshima Dreamin’” and “The Ballad of Rey Ordonez” are a good examples in which the songs gather a gloomier tone, both musically and lyrically. Obviously, they didn’t set aside their punk rock style and songs such as “Situation No-No” or “Goodnight Havana” are a proof of this: they are fast and gritty just like the Ramones.
Production quality is good and the songs sound good as well. This album’s release certainly made punk fans happy and it will be a good start for the promotion of punk and dance music.
In a couple of years, the Isotopes will set path for different directions, but this is a different story (cit.).

ALBUM RATING: 7

KEY SENTENCE:
“I kick ass…I name names” – Total Juicehead

Reviewed by P.A.
Translated by J.L.