Localized Suburban Hostage

On a completely ideological level, it’s ironic and/or revolting that punk—a style based on ideals of shrugging off all attempts at being trendy—has become a continuously mutating buffet of the latest white-hot subgenres. Post-hardcore is out, crunk-core is in. Metalcore is old news, and prog-punk is what’s next. Still managing to keep up, punk?

Denver’s Suburban Hostage chooses to either drop out entirely of punk’s fashionable arms race, or to jump so far ahead of the curve it’s still on the other side of the horizon. With its latest release, The Unified Theory Of Critical Thinking, Suburban Hostage does this with a simple trick: resuscitating early ’00s melodic hardcore, just as listeners are getting over their Fat Wreck Chords hangover. The band’s four-song EP wraps itself in nostalgia for the days when Gatling-gun rhythms, socially conscious lyrics, and steaming, meaty guitar tones ruled the punk world, shamelessly picking up where Good Riddance, early Rise Against, and H2O left off.

This should be music to the ears of anyone who’s fed up with punk’s obsession with the latest and greatest; songs like “Humanitarian Exceptionalism” feature a flurry of down-stroked power chords and tempos fast enough to soundtrack a sentimental trip to the skate park. “No God But Me” and “Raise Up Your Voice” further cement the band’s allegiance to Rise Against’s legacy, with singer Ross Hostage’s gruff vocals piping anthems of world-weary optimism as guitarists Felipe Patino and El Jefe (sorry, not the one from NOFX) double up on overblown rhythm arrangements.

Is The Unified Theory Of Critical Thinking pure turn-of-the-millennium nostalgia, or the first salvos in a charge to put Suburban Hostage’s favorite sub-genre back into play? The bigger question is, does it really matter? This EP is a blast of a sound not heard very often  in the punk underground these days, and by its distance from fashionable styles alone, it’s worth a listen for jaded scenesters and avid fashionistas alike. Grade: B