Aficionado

Aficionado's response to this year's surge of quick, loud, three-chord punk rock is a return to emotionally charged lyrics and power hooks. Aficionado is the debut full-length on No Sleep from This Albany, NY seven-piece, including flute, trumpet and keyboard in their sound. Female back-up vocals can be a hit or miss for male-fronted, punk-influenced bands, but in Aficionado's case they're justified. "Stir Like Hell" finds Laura Carrozza (also on flute) sweeping in with her resonating croon. "Everything Was Right" is a haunting ballad that strongly channels Cursive's Domestica (ironically, Aficionado will be on tour with Tim Kasher this fall). "Permanent" is a gruff acoustic ballad reminiscent of Against Me! that's elevated by the similarity between frontman Nick Warchol's throaty vocals and Tom Gabel's. "Honesty features a quick, vigorous punk rock melody that carries the album forward and a smattering of snappy guitar riffs. The repetitiveness of Aficionado's basic song structures sets them back, but Warchol's prominent, throaty singing remains the focus of the album despite the inclusion of 1,000 instruments.