I love slackers. They're Carefree and Ironic, those kids. I remember back in '47, I took a drive around Mexico (though it's Texas now), and lived just like the protypical slacker. It was great. Buck-O-Nine has slacker credibility, it's Carefree and Ironic, and oh yeah, it's ska-core too.

Ska-core, that's another thing I love. Not too cutesy on the horns like ska, a little more edgy on the guitars. Twenty-Eight Teeth just barely makes it into the "core" cubicle 'cause it's not really edgy ska-core (like Goldfinger, perhaps), but the horns are less in- yer- face, and I think slackers like core more than ska anyway, so this is my favor to them. Twenty-Eight Teeth has a strong poppy side too. Don't get me wrong, these guys aren't like Korn with horns (though that's a concept worth exploring). Jon Pebsworth's vocals sound a little like Mike Patton on a squeaky day, which could either annoy the hell out of you or comfortably remind you of your sweaty high-school days (in my case, my prostate-operation days). Jon's singing about his pals and music and boredom and life, with carefree ironic enthusiasm. It's not bad. You could do worse. You might want to buy this instead of Reel Big Fish, but Goldfinger's better. That's all I have to say about it.

-James P. Wisdom