Ten Foot Pole

It's taken a while but Dennis Jagard finally seems to have found his footing as a front-man. Although the founding guitarist and songwriter took over the job when former TFP singer Scott Radinsky quit the band to play pro baseball in 1996, Jagard has never really sounded comfortable behind the mic. However, this record not only shows him in fine form as a singer but also shows the band in better form than it has been in for years. With a new rhythm section in place after a brief hiatus and a change in record labels, the Pole is back and rocking larger and harder. With props to their SoCal melodic post-hardcore roots, dual guitarists Jagard and Steve Von Treetrunk spit out some unexpected but welcome monster rock riffs just to give the disc an added punch.