‘Mutiny at Muscle Beach’
Night Birds (Fat Wreck Chords)
3.5 stars out of 5
If you like old-school punk rock delivered with an intense disdain for authority and minus all the radio-friendly trappings that made pop/punk such a successful genre, you might consider checking out “Mutiny at Muscle Beach,” the third album from New Jersey-based punks Night Birds.
“I work in customer service, which is what fuels the majority of my hatred and my need for punk rock,” quips Night Birds vocalist Brian Gorsegner. “The people I deal with on a daily basis completely destroy any hope I had for humanity. But it’s good; everybody needs fuel for their creativity.”
His creativity takes the form of blistering, high-octane tunes that are short in duration — the 12-track “Mutiny at Muscle Beach” races by in just 25 minutes — but long on intensity as Night Birds rail against what they view as society’s wrongs.
Things get off to a fast start with “(I’m) Wired” and “Life Is Not Amusement for Me,” and Night Birds also impress on “Lapsed Catholics Need Discipline,” “Golden Age of TV,” “the title track, “King King” and “Left in the Middle.” Keep fighting the good fight, gents. (Jeffrey Sisk)
Pittsburgh In Tune 