Finally I get to hear from some kids out there who are not overly concerned about their perfectly manicured indie/emo image or who are not trying to tell me how awful their life is. ABI YOYOS does not really dress to impress and I find their world view to be pretty spot on for the most part. The lyrical range runs the gamut from serious, humorous to stream of consciousness. This may happen all in one song. “Sit around and wait for death with nothing left but prune juice breath” from “The End” is one of many examples. “Black and Yellow” deals with police brutality on a local level. There are plenty of great lines here that are too numerous to reprint here and vocalist Shawn Mehrens delivers these sermons in a very grating in your face manner. On the first listen I found him to be kind of irritating, but his abrasive style works with this band and sounds better each time I listen.

And my, what a band! These guys (and gal) play with creativity, ferocity and are very tight. Guitarist/Vocalist Matt Bleyler, Bassist Jeff Mitchell, and drummer Blaine Patrick have chemistry for sure. It’s kind of a shame baritone saxophonist Kyel Chu is only featured on two tracks here. The “Mill Valley” musical motif travels back to a time when punk was going into uncharted territory. This band’s jerky sound conjures up memories of 80’s greats such as THE BIG BOYS, THE MINUTEMEN and SACCARINE TRUST. They would have also fit in nicely with early Lookout acts like SEWER TROUT and CRIMPSHRINE even if they are a little less pop than those two in the vocal department. That said, Abi Yoyos play punk the way it should be in 2007. They are the perfect antidote for those of us who have lately grown quite weary of hearing from the battalion of breakdown brats of the crybaby screamo generation. Long live ABI YOYOS.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/abiyoyos

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