Abolitionist are back on Idle and the Bear with their second release/first full length It Used to Rain. For those of you who are out of the know (myself included until today), Abolitionist are a three-piece melodic punk band from Portland. And, so you know, when I refer to them as melodic punk I don't mean they sound like Rise Against or Bad Religion, because thankfully they don't. They sound more like an 80s pop punk band blended with some more recent folk punk elements. The music is catchy, energetic, and as muddy as they come. And this full length is an accurate representation of the awesomeness that is Abolitionist.
The first two songs on the release sort of blend together, but the chain is broken three songs in when there's this weird, bass heavy intro on the song "My AK". The vocals are definitely recorded in a very 80s way for this record, on top of the vocal melodies being heavily influenced by bands like Fugazi and Descendents. This band has a whole throwback sort of feel in general, and it's pretty nice. It's a lot better than that recent Queers album Back to the Basement, which was a very intentional throwback to earlier times of the band that put it out...and it didn't turn out so well. Abolitionist, however, have definitely struck gold (or at least iron or something profitable) with their releases so far.
The album stays strong for all ten songs, and would most definitely mesh well with any sort of 80s punk inspired mixtape you could put together for someone. Another thing that rules about this new album by Abolitionist: you can listen to it for free on their bandcamp page. So hit it up. It Used to Rain is a very worthwhile release, and should be one of your musical highlights for 2011.
-Idle
Abolitionist.
Idle and the Bear.
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