Lagwagon
Hoss

THE REVIEW

The early nineties are fertile for the punk genre and its offshoots, which are making a comeback and returning to the scene two decades after their beginnings. The proliferation of bands playing the so-called three “chords” or not, increases day by day, making many happy and some in despair.

Lagwagon, alongside Millencolin, No Use For A Name, Green Day, and Offspring, formed at the turn between the late eighties and early nineties. Yes, precisely the '90s, the era of Clinton, McDonald's, mainframes, and mass consumerism.

It’s also the era of MTV, which begins to take an interest in the phenomenon, finding a new genre/method to make fresh big bucks and plunging various bands into the abyss of commercialism (but with bank accounts rising like Scrooge McDuck).

There is reason to be glad that in these times the target is no longer the “nu” punk, but rather bands of poser kids with circus-like looks and the like dominate the scene (any reference is purely coincidental). A good piece of news comes from seeing that an overly commercialized genre has lost part of its appeal, and now ‘punk rock’ is followed not because it’s cool, but only by those who are truly passionate about the genre regardless of trends or anything else.

Setting aside the period and the masses, let's implicitly analyze this discographic work by Lagwagon.

With “Hoss,” Lagwagon, led by frontman Joey Cape, reached their third album, following “Trashed” from the year before. The style that permeates the entire album is the most classic new school melodic hardcore. So much so that the style somewhat resembles NOFX. Notably, in this album, behind the drums, we find Derrick Plourde, the band's former drummer, who passed away a few years ago, and to whom they dedicated their latest album “Resolve.”

The songs are all very similar in both duration (ranging from just under two minutes to three minutes or slightly more) and in the content presented. “Violins” and “Sick” are the songs that made the CD famous, considered by many as their best ever. The former is certainly the peak of the album, even though neither is particularly fast except for the final outbursts. In fact, they resemble the early Green Day much more than hardcore bands.

Other pieces certainly worth mentioning among the best are the very fast “Name dropping” and “Weak,” while the rhythm shifts in “Sleep” are fully convincing, starting slow and then shifting into fourth gear, not stopping until the relaxed finale. Among those in the second part, the classic “Bro dependent” especially deserves mention. The last, “Ride the snake,” instead has the traits of a romantic country song, though it is anything but saccharine.

It must be said that in the various tracks there are small peculiarities such as guitar solos, drum intros, and bass lines, although at times the band tends to exaggerate by becoming too virtuosic and overdoing it with the instrumental parts. Precisely their use of different instrumental parts represents a bit of their peculiarity and style that sets them apart.

No particular flaws are noticeable, except for the lack of greater variety from a compositional point of view, which would have made everything a bit more airy and fluid. However, for those who utterly despise ska and skapunk that fill the albums of NOFX and Millencolin (see their first album), rest assured: here no deviation on the theme is granted.

In short, a good enjoyable album, melodic and traditional, in all the style of early Lagwagon.