Jeff Rosenstock – ‘POST-‘

It seems everybody is trying to be Bruce Springsteen these days. Brian Fallon has been drawing comparisons for years, The Smith Street Band took their name from Springsteen’s E Street Band and there are even up and coming Americana bands imitating The Boss from exotic lands such as Aberdeen (I’m looking at you, Cold Years). Even so, it was a surprise to learn that Jeff Rosenstock considers himself a disciple, with his latest record ‘POST-‘ showing some of the ambition and scope the New Jersey legend is famed for.

Rosenstock’s biggest achievement here is summing up the impotent rage that many feel in the current political climate. He’s slightly wide of the mark on opening track ‘USA’, which fails to stay interesting for its full duration but occasionally bursts into life, particularly when he spits “I fought the law, but the law was cheating”. The “tired and bored” section is almost deliberately tiring and boring, so it’s a relief when ‘Yr Throat’ piles in to lament the frustration of failing to say anything useful in important situations, which is in itself a useful observation. The middle section may as well be chanted by cheerleaders, fitting well with the overall theme and providing the first proper sing along moment.

‘All This Useless Energy’ starts with a Grandaddy style guitar melody that grabs you immediately and a verse that flows perfectly into a powerful chorus. This is undoubtedly the song you’d play for the uninitiated. The unremarkable ‘Powerlessness’ is followed by the high point of the album, ‘TV Stars’, in which Rosenstock admits his piano skills aren’t up to much during a piano led verse reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash, before the signature style returns with him half screaming about feeling like a fraud in his own skin.

The concept album feeling is most prevalent in the way ‘Melba’ segues into ‘Beating My Head Against The Wall’ which is sure to be a live favourite, managing more hooks in 100 seconds than most songs do in twice that time. ‘Let Them Win’ is the better of the two long tracks on the record, featuring the high notes that so endeared him to listeners on ‘Nausea’ but still not quite the barnstorming closer that the record seems to be building to.

Some artists need to be judged in a vacuum, such is the uniqueness of their work, and Rosenstock has always been one of them. Despite retaining his easily identifiable sound, however, ‘POST-‘ deserves to be heard by all who feel a sense of disenfranchisement and want to hear it expressed in the form of punk rock anthems.

PAUL HAZELL