Home Grown, Riddlin’ Kids, the All-American Rejects & Flashlight Brown

What better way to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day than the seemingly bi-annual new school pop-punk extravaganza that is a Homegrown show at The Brick Works? Although Home Grown aren’t really terribly exciting in and of themselves, they have an annoying habit of bringing really good, or at least interesting opening acts with them, thus forcing me to actually go. Monday night was no different; in fact, the bands, with the exception of the first (whom we’ll get to in a second) offered a rather telling look at the past, present and future of new school. Home Grown is most certainly the ghost of new school past with their Blink-junior sound and attitude, Riddlin’ Kids are the ghost of new school present with their über-slick power pop sound being all the rage on TRL these days and the All-American Rejects seem to represent the ghost of new school future; their nü-emo synth-pop sound will undoubtedly be all the rage all too soon.
Starting things off were the painfully irrelevant Flashlight Brown. Hailing from Toronto, this four-piece tried their best to seem sincere, but their uninspired and uninteresting combination of late ‘90s Rancid meets Kung Fu Records punk-metal sound was not really what the doctor ordered. Their tasteless stage banter did nothing to help matters. Fortunately they were soon replaced by the All-American Rejects.
The All-American Rejects, recent signees to major label behemoth DreamWorks Records, are seemingly destined for at least short-term stardom. Their forthcoming, self-titled debut for DreamWorks is among the more charmingly irresistible records to come out in quite some time, a quality which transferred to the live setting exceptionally well. Although samplers were used rather liberally, songs like “Your Star” and “The Last Song” still dripped with the energy of a fully functional power pop Deathstar. Mark my words: the All-American Rejects will soon be the name on the hearts and lips of 13-year-olds everywhere.
The dubious honor of following the All-American Rejects on the stage fell to Austin, Texas’ Riddlin’ Kids. Sticking mainly to songs off their latest release, Hurry Up And Wait, The Riddlin’ Kids seemed to excite the crowd rather thoroughly, but their somewhat tepid brand of safety-punk was not terribly thrilling for some. Fortunately, the band soon ceded the stage to the self-proclaimed “Kings of Pop,” Home Grown. Summing up Home Grown is a rather simple affair. Imagine Cheshire Cat-era Blink-182, only not as good, and voilà! The two bands also share that same big dumb kid stage presence that somehow seems to drive pubescent girls wild. And wild they did go, as the band, with the aid of their new guitarist, Dan Hammond, presented their brief and curiously engaging ditties. Although Home Grown’s style is nothing exceptional, there is still something to be said for simple, stupid, SoCal pop-punk. If nothing else, it gave those youngsters in attendance a brief history lesson as to the origin of the slick punk rock stylings they now hold so dear.
– Daniel Taylor
– Photos By Elias Perez

Bookmark:

Comments down for maintenance.