Is it a hit, *hit or miss?

Cauterize - So Far From Real by Tim Byrnes

Cauterize - So Far From Real
Label: Wind Up Records
Rating: 

Back in the Summer of Hate (1977) when the Ramones wanted to be sedated and the Pistols were destroying rock and roll with their amplified venom and it looked like the cutting edge of whatever calls itself rock and roll was hell-bent on obliterating all feeling, there was a little band called the Shoes who, while labeled as punk by the music press, played and sang pristine pop tunes about the triumphs and travails of young love. With their debut album So Far From Real, Canadian punk-pop band Cauterize pick up the torch for all young lovers having a bad (Green) day. The Shoes, and bands like them, often time catch flack from the more �serious' among us (my punk rock can beat up your punk rock nonsense) for shying away from any political stance and �sleeping with the enemy' by continuing to sing about broken hearts as opposed to broken bones. 

The songs on this CD all, in one way or another, speak from the bottom of a broken, but not yet black, heart. They say that the personal is political, and I guess there's nothing more personal than a broken heart, so this CD and it's direct address of a failed relationship careening along at Mach 112 is more �political' than any would be revolutionary spouting slogans from a tour bus. 

This CD is like an anarchy beach party, all clanging guitars rushing headlong into tight power-pop harmonies, rollerball drums and impressive, melodic bass lines. There's more to this band than meets the ear at first. Of course they sound much like the Blinks and the Sums and all of Billie Joe's illegitimates (and, again, it's all the Buzzcocks, baby and that ain't a bad thing at all), I think by now that we'd all accept this form as a legitimate influence and, besides, nobody get's into this to starve. But Cauterize expand the template with curve ball quirks in their arrangements and a lyrical bent that, while bitter and  somewhat snotty, mostly transcends the banal locker room humor of the bands mentioned above. 

My favorite verse, from �My Everything' goes as follows: 

�..... How's your hand?
My eyes have healed nicely.
How's the time pass by
Without me?
I hope this hurts like hell
cause why should you be fine?"

Direct. Honest. Brutal. The personal made political made punk rock. Radio friendly and with a hyper-relatable subject matter, So Far From Real should be a hit, deserves to be a hit. No, it's not gonna save the world (I fear were too far gone for anything to save the world, but, I digress) but Cauterize at least give us a cool CD to dance to as it burns, which is more than I can say for many. Good rockin' tonight from Cauterize, 4 good men who deserve 4 good women (I guess).