The New Rochelles - It's New Too! (2015)

The New Rochelles are a Ramones-core pop-punk band from New York and there isn't much else to it. Not special and not original in any sense. Their homepage says: "too dumb to care". This compilation from Kid Tested Records combines all band's releases from 2010 to 2015. You are gonna get three or four chords strung together, '60s girl group-inspired melodies, and topics that range from the the juvenile to the ridiculous. Still, even though you are expecting it, it is done pretty well.

Like every good hero needs a theme song, every good pop-punk band needs their own anthem; for the New Rochelles that anthem is "Go Go New Ro!". The song has a dark, almost garage-like progression similar to Teenage Bottlerocket's own anthem "Bottlerocket"; having the phrase "Go go New Ro!" being the only lyrics in the song, they easily get stuck in your head and have you singing along. The best part about the Ramones is that they were economical, and the New Rochelles seem to get this where a lot of bands don't, and end up over-saturating the song with the hook. "S.L.O.T.H." manages to use time-honoured Ramones-core tradition of spelling out words letter for letter, and also add an unusual amount of dynamics for this type of thing. The chorus is played at a fairly standard mid-paced chug, but the verses are spit out at such a speed you can't understand the lyrics. Even though you've probably heard this all before, those little things really do make a difference. It's like they say, "the devil is in the details", except the devil is something good here. If you hate Ramones-core, It's New! isn't the type of album that will shake things up enough to change your mind on it, because it isn't the best that has ever been done or anything. However, if you do at least like the genre, this is better than average, so you probably shouldn't sleep on it.

Tracklist:

01. Go Go New Ro!
02. This Is My LJ
03. Did Something Bad
04. Watch Out For The Skunk Ape
05. Quit Givin' Me The Stinkeye
06. Truth Serum
07. Who Will? (I Will)
08. Static Shock
09. Jargon Mania
10. S.L.O.T.H.
11. Tina's Got A Toothache
12. It's Really Hard To
13. Cuidado
14. Nightcrawler
15. Hey Pizza!
16. I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Crawlspace
17. Two Scoops
18. What I Want


Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Mastered by Gregory Tomao.
Recorded at The Tomato Farm Studio in Long Beach, NY in 2011-2012.

• Ronnie Rochelle - electric guitar and vocals
• Ricky Rochelle - drums and backup vocals
• Rookie Rochelle - bass guitar and gang vocals

Release Date: July 17, 2015
Label: Kid Tested Records
Catalog No.: KTR-018