Fight the Good in Bloomington, MN

After two albums that were packed with energy and spirit but sadly lacked memorable tunes, ska-punk quartet
the Interrupters
' third album,
Fight the Good Fight
, balances the ledger just enough to make it their best outing yet. As in the past, the Bivona brothers whip up a spunky, spiky sound and vocalist
Aimee
knocks the stuffing out of the songs with her rough and gruff vocals.
Tim Armstrong
is once again in the producer's chair and lending a hand with the songwriting. It's a familiar sound and approach, only this time it's a little sharper and tougher. The guitars have a little more bite, the beat is tighter, and the overall feel of the music is bigger and practically compels the listener to start doing crazy dance steps. Of course, a great-sounding record that doesn't have the songs to match makes for one that's easy to dismiss. Luckily, this time the melodies usually stick and land their punches and the sentiments are easy to rally around. The opening "Title Holder" kicks like a warrior and showcases
's most inspiring vocal performance, "She's Kerosene" has a huge hook that they aren't shy about driving straight into the brain of the listener, "Rumors and Gossip" is a nice match of propulsion and melody, and much of the rest of the album shows great improvement in the songwriting department. It sounds less like they are raiding
Rancid
's cupboard for scraps and more like they are (slowly) becoming their own band. Not every band hits the ground running, and though it sounded at first like they might not finish the race, with
it seems like
are finally starting to find their stride. ~ Tim Sendra