The Menzingers, A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology

With a name that sounds like they should be either a ska band or a messy/chaotic noise band, on A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology Scranton’s Menzingers instead manage to craft a decent little chunk of bright Bay Area-style pop-punk. The songs (and guitarist/singer Tom May’s vocals) bring to mind Green Day back in their pre-MTV days, with a bit of a Rancid resemblance in the way band members May, drummer Joe Godino, guitarist/vocalist Greg Barnett, and bassist Eric Keen effortlessly incorporate their ska-punk roots (three out of the four used to play in a ska-punk outfit called Bob and the Sagets) into the pop-punk whole.

What with the crunchy-but-not-abrasive guitars, gang vocals, and yell-along choruses, Lesson makes me think of a ton of those old Lookout! bands, but the Menzingers here prove themselves to be smarter and more broad-minded than some of their predecessors, forgoing empty sloganeering for some interesting song-stories about family and war (“Sir Yes Sir,” the WWII-themed “Cold Weather Gear” and “Clap Hands Two Guns”) and odd neo-Luddite meditations on modern society (“No Ticket,” “Even for an Eggshell”). They’re surprisingly literate, writing one song based on an Edwin Arlington Robinson poem (“Richard Coury”) and in another somehow tying Hamlet to our consumerism-obsessed culture (“Even for an Eggshell”), and hell, I can’t hate a band that’s brave enough to cover a Clash song (“Straight To Hell”) and do it both reverently and well.

Be warned that the album’s a soft sell — a week or so after my first listen, I was totally blanking on what it sounded like. The second time through, though, I’d catch a stellar melody or chorus (“Sir Yes Sir,” “Ave Maria,” “Keychain”) and go, “oh, yeah, I remember now; I liked that bit the first time…” It may not break a whole lot of new ground or knock you flat on your back, but it’ll seep in around the edges, even still.