Reviews

Phone Trio's sound settles somewhere in the middle of the Coming Home-stage of New Found Glory's career, keyboard/synth incorporation a la Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer, three-chord punk in the vein of Blink 182 and The Queers, and Beach Boys all-out smoothness and style. Oh yeah, and this English-speaking band comes from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...if that matters.

Unfortunately, that mix doesn't culminate in something new and interesting, but instead comes across as a fairly formulaic late 90s pop-punk vibe. The lyrics mostly deal with romance and the band offers only a few vocals turns of interest, including the opening lines ("I try to break through your heartbreak brick wall") of "Loves Me So, Loves Me Not."

Sal has a voice reminiscent of Jordan Pundik's nasal but pop-friendly approach. It works well. Sal can hit some high notes with ease and adds a slight accent to the mix. The band, as a whole, is very catchy, but ultimately uninspiring.

"Fur Eye" is a slow track, which does not belong on this six-track EP. Brickwall, or most any EP for that matter, has a hard enough time getting off the ground in such a short time without a slowdown. Next to the poppy songs, it just does not work.

The band flaunts the most style on the final track, "Hooker." It's not the silly lyrics about unwittingly falling for a prostitute and realizing the next morning she wants money that makes it special, but the horns, the storytelling setup and everything else about it. (Though, a few less "ladies and gentlemen" lines wouldn't hurt).

It's easy to be hard on the faults of Brickwall, but Phone Trio is ultimately a good band. Recreating the 90s pop-punk sound and sounding fresh has proved tough for a number of bands. Phone Trio has potential but needs to look to what bands like Time Again and Teenage Bottlerocket have done in their respective genres to keep their derivative sounds exiting.