Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Every Avenue is being marketed as a punk act, though I would beg to differ with that description. A quintet from Marysville, Michigan, Every Avenue’s AH!, their debut EP, is closer to the hard rock of the Church of Latter Green Day than to, say the anarchic, anthemic spirit of Black Flag or Sex Pistols.

This is not to say, however, that the band doesn’t have a certain appeal lacking in their northern California peers. Most of AH! focuses on relationship concerns that one would expect to preoccupy those in their late teens and early 20s, as opposed to a social discourse over-influenced by a diet heavy on marijuana and Noam Chomsky. Every Avenue is also more focused on getting the job done; the six tracks on AH! Demonstrate a healthy preoccupation with editing; the best of AH!, a track entitled “Think Of You Later (Empty Room)” could have gone on forever, as far as I was concerned, but it doesn’t. It’s faintly reminiscent of Matchbox 20 (who I don’t care for) yet there is an appreciation and use of dynamics that so many bands tend to forget. “Getting Out” is a close second, a track that relies maybe a touch too much on production tricks (or, then again, maybe not) but is nonetheless an interesting piece for the listener, who might wonder if the singer is addressing his girlfriend or his parents. Or both.

Fearless Records, Every Avenue’s label, has been on a roll lately, and Every Avenue is one major reason why. Bring on the long play, by all means, but in the meantime we’ve got AH!, and that ain’t bad.