Blake Hickman
Assistant Promotions Director
In some 15-odd minutes of blissful rock, TeenSpot’s Aggressive Inline Skating is the first release of what will, no doubt, eventually be considered a super group of Portland songwriters. Morgan Troper (of Your Rival fame), Mayhaw Hoons (formerly of The Shaky Hands, currently of The Spookies), and Mike Wroblewski (of Paper Brain) all bring their own unique voices and sensibilities together to create a truly special release worthy of any Portland music fan’s attention.
Aggressive Inline Skating is one expertly sequenced 7-inch, people. The transition between “The Hero” and “Outside” might be my favorite moment on this disc as the blistering pop-punk of “The Hero” yields to the mid-tempo rock of “Outside”—a track that manages to perfectly capture that same low-fi, blink-and-it’s-gone wistfulness of Alien Lanes-era Guided By Voices. On “Leave Me Guessing” the bands collective approach continues to shine in a track that blends Byrds-style guitars with ’80s college rock perfectly (down to the perfect guitar fade-out).
I’ve used the term “wistful” before in this missive but it really does warrant a repeat because it’s always special when a release as rocking and melodic as this one has such a sense of wistfulness hanging over it. I suggest listening to this on the drive to your Mom’s house in Beaverton—particularly during that stretch where you always contemplate driving all the way to Skate World but always decide not to, ’cause you just wouldn’t belong there anymore.
Available at:
http://teenspot.bandcamp.com/