Premiere: What I See, What People See – American Ink (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I keep seeing the name American Ink being tagged with the pop-punk moniker, even by the band themselves, and I’m not happy about it. It’s lazy journalism, and I should know I am a lazy journalist! Pop-punk will forever be associated with shallow, lightweight tunes and frat boy humour, music not to be taken seriously, throw away entertainment and faddish. To imply that is what is going on here, dear reader, is to do American Ink a major disservice; they are so much better than such a label implies.

But then again, they are from Boston. This town pretty much-reinvented indie-rock, or at least bent it to their own will. (I’ll fight anyone who disagrees with me. Actually, no, I’ll probably buy them a drink and play them Buffalo Tom albums until they abandon their argument, but I digress.) My point is that even if American Ink were trying to emulate the pop-punk sound, their Boston DNA has turned it into something much more palatable, much more enjoyable.

And the new album, What I See, What People See, is all the need proof you are going to need. It’s full of great songs. Pedestrians is a master class in the ebb and flow of musical dynamics, the loud/quiet switch reminiscent of the Pixies; Wishing is shot through with new wave edge and energy, like Elvis Costello if he earned his stripes in an Emo band, and Nosferatu is a dense, gothic-punk salvo. And between these markers, they mix and match and merge and meld all manner of rock subgenres into the American Ink sound.

Okay, there is plenty of pop-punk energy in there, but so much more too, alternative vibes, classic rock traditions, punk swagger, pop infectiousness and lyrical intelligence and integrity. It’s both familiar and fresh, its new music based on recognisable traditions but it is unique, full of life and quite brilliantly done. That’s Boston for you.