Bored & Extremely Dangerous

Nobody thought it would be possible for Have Nots to give the instant classic “Serf City USA” a proper follow-up. The young band exploded onto the Boston scene with their ska infused punk debut back in 2009, with the album sitting high atop many “Best of ‘09” countdowns. This past year the young band looked to pick up right where they left off, but this time around writing a more personal record that really shows how much they’ve progressed these past two years of touring around the country. Like on “Serf City”, the vocals and guitar work of both Jon Cauztik and Matt Pruitt compliment each other so well, creating a blend of that all too familiar Boston punk rock n’ roll with both fast paced ska and chilled out reggae. On tracks like “Dead Man”, it’s almost impossible not to make some comparison with The Clash. Am I really busting out the C word on a band’s second record? You bet I am. Songs like “The Brink”, “Jackson Dawn”, “All Or None” and of course crowd favorite, “Louisville Slugger”, are among some of the best songs written by the band to date. Despite what some people have been writing, there are no sleeper tracks on “Proud”, this is a filler free record! The fact that this album wasn’t even qualified to be reviewed or listed on the top 2011 list on Punknews is such a shame, “Proud” deserves to make that list more than so many of those other records. Do yourself a favor and listen to the best punk rock record of 2011, another classic from Have Nots.