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So what's the deal with Tooth and Nail Records and MxPx soundalikes lately?  They've recently signed seemingly thousands of punk bands, and with a few exceptions (The Deadlines, Off the Record), all of them seem to be trying to sound just like Mike Herrera and company.  And now Slick Shoes, a band that already has two fairly original albums under its belt, comes out with Wake Up Screaming, perhaps the most dead-on impersonation of MxPx that I've ever heard.  

This is getting very depressing.  

Don't get me wrong:  Slick Shoes knows how to play their instruments for sure, and the production, done by Stephen Egerton and Bill Stevenson of All/Descendents fame, is impeccable.  However, there's an unmistakable feeling that the whole album's been done before - probably because it has.  Wake Up Screaming is a poor 2000 version of MxPx's 1998 magnum opus Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo.  In fact, the first time I heard "Constancy," I immediately began singing Buffalo's "Invitation to Understanding."  

There are a few differences in the two albums.  For one, Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo contained Herrera's best lyrics to date, from the bitter "What's Mine Is Yours" to the poignant "Tomorrow's Another Day."  However, chief Slick Shoes lyricist Ryan Kepke seems to have graduated from the college of cookie-cutter punk lyricism:

    And when I fall asleep, your [sic] all that I see
    Your [sic] in my thoughts and all my prayers
    I wish I could mean all that you mean to me
    My angel without wings
    (From "Angel")

    You are so special to me
    You bring so much joy to my life
    I can't imagine what it would be like if you were not around
    Only by the grace of God can I enjoy your precious friendship
    (From "Elisa")

So, if MxPx's latest release The Everpassing Moment wasn't enough fake-British-accented pop-punk for you, you might consider picking up Wake Up Screaming.  The rest of us would be wiser to move onto brighter fields.  

Michial Farmer 06/28/2000