Comedy punk. It can be amazing. NoFX proved that. Its got it’s place – and that place is not especially sizeable.
The problem is, there is a fine line between making the joke and being the joke. Let’s be honest, you can guess what Punks Not Dad look like before you see a photograph or even hear a note. These are a band acutely aware of their age and their lack of musical prowess, and seem on the surface to be quite ok with it. This is making a joke at their own expense, as middle aged men who have been around for 30 years, proudly still listening to nothing that came out after 1979. Except Rancid.
But, there is an extra, slightly sinister level to this. It’s all too close to home. Probably for them, definitely for me. And this lot have a quarter of a century on me I reckon. You can only make joke punk when you’re fucking good to start with. This lot wouldn’t even claim to be. These 2 tracks are just the poor man’s Hard Skin I’m afraid.
Mike