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From the initial guitar swells of Slick Shoes self-titled fourth album, the writing is on the wall, and it isn't good. Another plump target for Tooth & Nail's critics: stale pop-punk that celebrates friendship and love using all the tricks of a genre that burnt out years ago. Punk purists are going to pour cold water all over this album's youthful exuberance.

But get past the somewhat routine first song, and it becomes clear that this group has matured, if not lyrically then certainly musically. The melodies are stronger and delivered more confidently than ever. "Friday Night," the third track on offer, is the first big highlight, an electrified teen anthem with a huge chorus that teeters on a cheesy abyss but just avoids falling in, thanks largely to its catchiness:

It's Friday Night.
Let's go.
Let's all have some fun tonight.
All right.
Here we go.
Here we go tonight.

Other highlights include "Alone," which also sports an anthemic chorus and some nicely placed strings, which create the necessary ambience without sapping the song of its vitality or sounding overblown. "No More Words," the best song on the album, incorporates a rhythmic break that flows effortlessly into another huge chorus. The praise song "151," which closes the album, starts with a staccato riff that gives way to driving distortion and another top-notch melody. "1000 Times Before" is the closest thing to punk, a 1:27 nugget with a somewhat denser, murkier sound and the cheerfulness sapped out of Ryan Kepke's voice.

A few songs misfire, particularly the flavourless "1 A.M.", but on the whole this is a good album, an ideal accompaniment to summer sunshine (providing your country of residence gets any).  Slick Shoes strongest to date.

Shelby Foster 5/19/2002

Tooth and Nail's Slick Shoes follows up their previous album (from only last year) Wake Up Screaming with their new self-titled disc - an album full of pure punk rock ear candy from start to finish.

With much success over the past year, including a tour with MxPx, and the Tooth and Nail 2001 tour (with Ace Troubleshooter, Calibretto 13 and Rod Laver) they are notably still going strong.

Slick Shoes is a fun album thanks to the unavoidable energy pulsing through it with every track. The lyrics were surprising - and are one of the strongest attractions to the album. Punk bands tend to have the reputation of being jokers, and not much more, mainly because a majority of them focus on goofy topics and comical lyrics. Slick Shoes, however, go deeper than that. Their songs aren't overly deep or philosophical, but they are refreshingly real and easy to relate to - a definite asset to the band.

Another notable asset is the band's instrumentation. Edgy, driven guitars, slamming drums and bass are the typical 'punk' instrument trio. But with this album, Slick Shoes goes beyond that and incorporates "wacky guitar stuff" that they "never did before because it wasn't 'punk,'" says drummer Joe Nixon.

Overall, Slick Shoes is one band in whom I have no doubt of their future success. Nixon also stated that he thinks they are going to gain a lot more fans - and I concur. Check these guys out. Punk fan or not, you won't be disappointed.

Jessica Heikoop 5/24/2002