Useless I.D. – Redemption

Marketing pop-punk bands is always difficult, because you never know what the fan’s reaction will be. Sometimes they’ll eat it up like a hungry dog getting his first plate of food for the day, while other times they will shove it off to the corner and bury it underground. But every once in a while you get a band that is sincere about what they are doing. There’s no misconceptions, they are playing for the sake of playing, to have fun and to forget their troubles at home. Useless I.D. is one of those bands, and the Israeli punks are back with their newest album Redemption to prove that pop-punk can still be fun.

And fun is exactly what Redemption is. Its twelve catchy, upbeat, melodic, poppy songs that gets the listener singing and bouncing along with them. Its old fashion pop-punk singing about cliche subjects with harmonious vocals and just a real feel good feeling to it all. The songs aren’t depressing or saddening, but rather fill the listener with joy as they sing along. You also know the album is going to be good after The Blasting Room‘s Bill Stevenson gets his hands on it, he even plays the lead guitar on the catchy Kiss Me, Kill Me. He’s not alone in helping the band out as Chris Fogal, singer for The Gamits (RIP) lend his vocal talents on Deny It too.

Really, there’s not much to say about Redemption because the entire album can be summed up quickly: it is fun, energetic, catchy, pop-punk. No more, no less. Its a damn good album that will get played over and over again. And plus, the album comes with the music video for Turn Up The Radio too, so there’s another reason for you to buy it! Any pop-punk fan should get this, or else they are missing out on a lot.