Album Review: Get Lost! by The Radio Buzzkills

I first became aware of Missouri's The Radio Buzzkills last year when I reviewed a split they did with The Hypnic Jerks. Playing Lookout Records-esque pop punk on the subject of all things sci-fi, The Radio Buzzkills released a brand new album in March named Get Lost! on OutLoud! Records. I loved The Radio Buzzkills side of the previously mentioned split so was very keen to see what they could do with a whole album.

Get Lost! begins with the song Tattletale. On the track, The Radio Buzzkills sing about that person at school who was a goody-two-shoes, always got the best marks and never did anything wrong and you attempting to become a bad influence then. As you would expect, it's ridiculously catchy song that will quickly get stuck in your head. I really enjoyed the addition of the female harmony, giving the song an extra layer and making me think of the much missed Teen Idols. Opening a song with the lyric "I want to drink your blood" is a quite a startling thing to do but that's exactly what the band do on the next song, Vampire Of Sacramento. This song talks about a night as a vampire; feeling alone, sneaking into a house, lusting over someone, killing them and then feeling complete. It's kind of like a Masked Intruder song but instead of crime it's vampires. Cannibal Girlfriend picks up the tempo. Starting out with some punchy vocals that give the song plenty of energy before moving onto a more melodic chorus. The song is about falling in love with a cannibal and the trials and tribulations that that lifestyle involves. It sounds like a tricky relationship.

She Hails Satan continues the theme of falling in love with the wrong kind of girl. This time it's about falling for a devil worshipper and dealing with what struggles that world brings. Lyrically, it's filled with humour and paints a great picture of what's going on – it certainly put a grin on my face. There's a nice section that throws back to 60s doo-wop music with some superb "do-do-dos" harmonised with some "whoa-ohs." Shark Surfer sees The Radio Buzzkills go down a surf rock road, perhaps not too surprising given the name of the song. It's actually an instrumental track aside from a couple of cries of "shark surfer" during the song. The sixth song on Get Lost!, named The Distance Between Us, feels like more of a serious song. It's about being in a long distance relationship and feeling as if nobody understands why you would put yourself through the hard work that it can be. The duelling male/female vocals are perfect on the track, making it feel like a duet rather than lead and backing vocals. This One Is Bitter is another super punchy song that injects a lot of energy into the album. This is one of the heavier, rockier songs on the album, at times feeling like a big ol' sing-along drinking song. It's a break up song where The Radio Buzzkills bitterly lament the end of the relationship. One of my favourite songs on Get Lost!.

Cold And Lonely starts with some super snotty vocals singing "it's cold and lonely in Wisconsin" before the band come in. The Screeching Weasel influence is perhaps more evident here than anywhere else on the album and really is a throwback to a fantastic time in pop punk music. Cold And Lonely is about being alone, obsessing over someone and… eventually killing them. The song makes it seem much cheerier than this description makes it out to be, honest. The penultimate song is the one that stood out most when I read the track listing before I heard the album. Titled She Died On That Deathstar, I really hope that the band make a video for this song. It tells the tale of someone grieving because their lover died when the Deathstar was destroyed. The band weave a great tale that quickly had me visualising what happened. The final song on Get Lost! is named Unsolved Mysteries. Finishing in an epic way with a song that's nearly four minutes long, I'm really impressed with how The Radio Buzzkills manage to make a pop punk track sound so big. A big part of this is due to those fantastic harmonies giving the song such a sweet extra layer. It's also packed with melody and does the best job of building towards its ending.

The Radio Buzzkills are one of my favourite new bands in the Ramonescore pop punk genre. I was recently discussing with a pal how there doesn't seem to be too many bands playing this style in the UK anymore so I'm pleased that the genre is still alive and well elsewhere in the world.

Stream and download Get Lost! here: https://theradiobuzzkills.bandcamp.com/album/get-lost

Like The Radio Buzzkills here: https://www.facebook.com/theradiobuzzkills/

This review was written by Colin Clark.