Unlike a lot of bands playing to a similar demographic, the
101 know that there are indie rockers out there who enjoy albums that came out before
Weezer's
Pinkerton, and who want to hear more than what
Fall Out Boy can offer. Although the
101 might conceivably appeal to the standard mall-punk audience,
Green Street also includes a number of fuzzy, lo-fi guitar drones with echoes of earlier hipster faves like
Yo La Tengo and
Antietam. The jangly arpeggiated guitar riffs and clipped, hurried drumming of "Wolf" brings to mind an entire generation of post-
R.E.M. college rockers, and the epic closer "Regret" turns into just the sort of kinda-Krautrock trance that the
Feelies and many of the New Zealand bands specialized in, while the more experimental drones and eddies of "Generals" explore trippy post-rock territories. However, frontman Eric Richter (formerly of
Christie Front Drive and Antarctica) isn't just about re-creating the past, and his urgent but never whiny vocal style is entirely in keeping with current trends. As a result,
Green Street is that rare album equally interesting to incoming freshmen and the comparatively grizzled old hands at the college radio station. ~ Stewart Mason