Lagwagon
Double Plaidinum

By Rob Selina
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  When buying indie records, I find that the best way to find good bands is though word of mouth at concerts. Chances are that the guys who you’ll talk to at a concert have similar tastes to you, so the odds are in your favor that they’ll recommend something good. I’ve had a lot of luck with this approach, but I’ve picked up a couple of dud albums along the way too of course. To say that Double Plaidinum is one such album would be a little harsh, but it just can’t seem to move me in any way.

The band has quite a following for a punk band, and the label they’re on, Fat Wreck Chords, is one of my favorites, but I just don’t like them. On Double Plaidinum their guitar style is too mellow for starters. They use some distortion effects that just rob their rifts of any life and bring them down to this generic drone that isn’t that appealing. Aside from that, the drums and bass, which are focal points for me and add a lot of life to the music, just seem to get lost in the rest of the song. All of this probably would be excusable if the singer, Joey Cape, could catch my attention, but I just don’t find his voice that captivating.

The band is just a little too close to the dreaded “Alternative” scene for me to cling to them. If you tend to miss the early nineties Seattle scene, and like West Coast pop punk, you probably would like Lagwagon. I’m not one such person though. The band is okay, and better than most of the people they play on your local rock station, but they just don’t cut it for a recommendation.

Enjoyment: 60

Sound Quality: 70