Fearless Records
2006
Pessimism & Satire
About This Album
Logan Square is yet another band to add to the list of Windy City pop-punk upstarts of the 2000s. Their hometown is both a blessing (notable show opportunities and record label attention) and a curse ("wait, Logan what? Did Pete Wentz discover them too?"). Consequently -- and despite indie label attention to the contrary -- bands from the Midwest hotbed need to really up the ante to make their faces shine above the rest and enable them to remain relevant longer than one or two albums. Unfortunately, while Pessimism & Satire is a competent enough debut -- it rocks and emotes in all the right places -- it's not one that exactly separates the emo quartet all that much from their contemporaries. Leaning more to the darker side of pop-punk (not quite Alkaline Trio territory, but far from being sugarcoated), the guys bear a certain resemblance to bands like the Ataris and Chicago peers Plain White T's. Though nods to both bands are littered throughout the album, the latter comparison is especially apparent in the vocal delivery and guitars on tracks like "Fire and Kerosene" and "I Wish You Hell." Album highlights come in the form of the swaying rhythms on "Alley Cat," the punchy "Is This How You Feel?," and summery chorus of "I'll Get There.
Track List (try tracks 4,5,6,10 and 11)

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