Tightwire – Six Feet Deep

Minneapolis, Minnesota pop-punk band Tightwire is a shoe-in for the Red Scare family.  In fact, label boss man Toby Jeg gave one listen and just couldn’t turn them down.  Born of a simple pop-punk spirit that captures the early days of Teenage Bottlerocket and Masked Intruder, there’s little denying the band’s easy appeal to today’s hungry pop-punk fan-base.  Their label debut, Six Feet Deep, is a simple but impactful reminder that reinventing the wheel isn’t always as exciting as just rolling with what works.

The album opens with the quick and dirty rally cry of “Spell on Me,” spouting out an instantly memorable lead-in and following-up with an equally as addictive chorus. The simple pop-punk riffs and nasally vocals are right on cue, made all the more singable in part to a chorus of “woah-oah” style harmonies.  The song is uplifting but suitably dark, but follow-up “Guts” is even more invigorating.  These songs waste no time launching into verse after verse of nippy pop-punk glory.  Songs range from under a minute to slightly over two, ensuring that there is absolutely no filler, and that the tracks never drag.  “Told Ya” is basically just a couple of high octane lines played on loop – and it’s fantastic.  Imagine if The Copyrights only wrote chorus line after chorus line and nothing else in between.  Others like “Hidden Planet” feel like they could have been on The Lillington’s pop-punk channel surfing classic The Too Late Show, and again, I intend that statement as perhaps the highest form of flattery. 

I could go on, but in the spirit of Tightwire’s knack for keeping things simple, I’ll keep this brief. Six Feet Deep is a quick and addictive fix for anyone looking for their next favourite pop-punk album.  The musicianship is tight – super tight – as the band reels in listeners and never gives them an ounce of slack.  An undeniable classic.