The Haddonfields

The Haddonfields' Get a Nightlife is a no-muss, no-fuss affair: The Edwardsville band crams seven songs of streamlined pop-punk into a fourteen-minute EP. The four fellows in the band have an obvious Ramones jones (the patron saints of all two-minute punk songs), but the Haddonfields add a little Dead Milkmen-esque cheekiness and a lot of SoCal sneering to the formula. For all the major-key riffs and thick, buzzy guitars that bolster these tunes, depression and boredom walk hand in hand on a few of these rapid-fire bashers.

"Leave Me Alone" finds a disaffected young man who tries to escape the ennui of modern life with Blues hockey and cheap beer. The next track, "Bi-Polar Girl," argues that "we'd both be a whole that happier if you were medicated." The Haddonfields aren't as sharp or effervescent as fellow pop-punk locals the Pubes; a few too many dropped beats and some sour harmonies derail the momentum. Luckily the EP ends on a high note with "The Haddonfield Hop," which serves as a band theme song as well as a call to arms for the Haddonfield faithful.

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