Victory Records
2006
Permanent Revolution
About This Album
Break out the checkered suspenders and dust off those old history books -- you're gonna need 'em both. Ready or not, New Jersey's Catch 22 has arrived with their academic soiree, Permanent Revolution. It's a concept album that ambitiously follows the life of Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik revolutionary and father of Marxist theory. (Who knew these ska-punks were also scholars?) After the band was forced to find new singers following both Keasbey Nights and Alone in a Crowd, Permanent Revolution is the second proper effort with saxophonist Ryan Eldred and trumpeter Kevin Gunther trading off on vocals. And coming off the lukewarm and mixed response to Dinosaur Sounds, this album should find fans more pleasantly greeted than the unsteady rock that dominated that 2003 record. Even with a lyrical theme that finds the band stretching itself a bit thin with straightforward insight ("Stay true to principle and give your all for all!"), the music stands firm. And this is a good thing, since really, while a Russian history lesson is a noble task, its still seems a little awkward revved up to the tune of the third wave. The soundtrack to the Bolshevik Revolution this is not. But it is enjoyable music.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,5,7,9 and 10)

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