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October 11, 2024


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The Humpers
Plastique Valentine (Epitaph Records)

By: Alex Steininger

"Wondering what to get that special someone that just dumped you for Valentine's Day? How about Plastique Valentine by The Humpers? It'll tell them just how you feel," is how their biography starts. And that statement could not be any truer. Combining all the pain and anger from relationships gone bad with energetic pop-punk is exactly what The Humpers excel at. And that's what you get on this album!

It starts out with the title track. Fast pop-punk served hot, spicy, and lively. The one thing that adds a nice touch to this song is the keyboard. It gives it a good feel, and adds that slight contradiction that adds so much more power to the song. "For Lovers Only" adds all the hooks, fast guitar with a mind of it's own, powerful drums, and thumping bass that your mind needs after you've just went through a bad relationship. And if you have just gone through a bad relationship, you will find comfort in this album. It's what the American public is great at--feeding off others misery and pain. "Mutate With Me," starts off with the hooks up front. The vocals are always the most powerful thing in the mix, and sometimes it adds a certain depth that expresses even more pain and anger, but sometimes it doesn't. At the starting it fails, but later in the song it picks up and succeeds. "Sick Of Tomorrow Today" starts out with a heavy bass line that will knock your socks off. "Monday's coming wanna feel no pain/Tuesday, Wednesday, still the same/Thursday, Friday, I can't look back/Saturday night like a heart attack" expresses their feelings towards life. But they get deeper. "Too many colors and too many debts to pay/too many voices with too many words to say." Now your feeling his attitude towards a life that makes you "Sick of Tomorrow Today." The CD ends with "Mongrel Train," is a fast, action packed punk tune all the way through it. Fast vocals, powerful guitars, a catchy snare/cymbal combo on the drums, and bass lines that fill out the song evenly! A great way to end the CD.

The Humpers may have gone through a few too many bad relationships, but in a way that's good. If not, they wouldn't bring us this angry at times, depressing at times, and hopeful sometimes album about the tragedy's of love. I'll give this album an A-. Pick up a copy at your local store. The lyrics will kick you, and the music won't let you get back up.

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