Strung Out
Prototypes and Painkillers
(3/10)
There’s a reason that not all prototypes make it into production. Someone should have told this to the pop-punk outfit Strung Out before they unleashed their latest compilation album Prototypes and Painkillers.
This recent release is a mix of b-sides, remixes, and previously un-released material that pans the band’s 17-year tenure in the pop-punk community. Tracks like “Novella” and “Novocain” will come as no surprise to followers of the band, but some previously unreleased tracks like “Mad Mad World” or “Forever is Today” sound like they’re probably songs that rightfully didn’t make the cut on previous albums.
If you’re willing to sift through the train-wreck of 25 tracks on this album to find the tracks like my favorite Punk Goes Metal cover “Bark at the Moon,” then this album isn’t half bad, but as Statler and Waldorf (the gumpy old muppets from The Muppet Show) would say “It’s not half good either.”
–Sean Lear