Patent Pending – Attack of the Awesome!!

patentpendingArtist: Patent Pending
Album: Attack of the Awesome!!
Genre: Pop Punk
Label: Unsigned

After falling victim to a bad record contract, Patent Pending have finally freed themselves of the hold of “the man” and gone independent. Their new record, Attack of The Awesome displays major songwriting growth since the band’s debut, but also serves as a much needed, light hearted, soundtrack to Summer [as well as Fall and Winter] 2009.

Kicking things off in quick witted, pop punk fashion, “Anti-Everything” blasts through your speakers with every single element Summer perfectly aligned into one song. Aside from the familiar chord progression of pop punk music, there’s quite a few “boy band pop” breaks with synthesizer and vocal harmonies that will keep you coming back again and again.

As the record moves on, we find that Patent Pending has not stacked this EP to be front heavy, but interlaced ridiculously catchy tracks throughout the release. “The Way You Make Me Shake” might as well just enter the top 40 in the top 10 because it’s so well crafted and appealing. Whether it’s the light hearted subject matter of the basic song structure meant to emphasize the hook, there’s no reason this band should be obscure any longer. Likewise, “Sunset Summer” and the ludicrous “Therefore, I Party” both take classic pop punk elements and use it to their advantage. Whether it’s the quick high ht/accented guitar laced pre-hooks or gang vocals, these tracks demand sing along parties and I know of no one who could deny them.

It’s not all golden however. “Hey Six” for example, is simply too much. There are some attempts at stepping outside of formulaic pop punk and it falls a bit on its face. However, the good outweighs the bad overall and that’s what matters.

It may have taken them longer than it ever should have, but Patent Pending is back in full force with lots of pop punk goodness to share. Attack of the Awesome is just as the title states, a bludgeoning audio assault of pure pop punk goodness that no one can deny. Though the group does stumble a bit as they try to expand, they quickly recover and carry on with their golden goose sound. This is the kind of album that only comes along once in a great while and not everyone will get it, but those who do will cherish it. We here at UTG fall into the latter and hope you do too.

Score: 8/10

James Shotwell
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