Search - Pulley :: Esteem Driven Engine

Excellent!!

J. Kaplan | Merrick, NY United States | 05/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In a style that has now been beaten to death - I don't know what they're calling it these days - "punk revival", or whatever (basically the style of music which has been repeated endlessly based upon the late-80's Bad Religion records & NOFX). Many bands have the formula down & spit out record after record of good-sounding punk music, with very little heart.What we have here is another record of punk rock with little ground broken. It's unexplainable - sometimes the formula works - sometimes it doesn't. In this particular case - it works with a vengeance!! These guys write some incredibly catchy songs - and the fact that these guys are killer musicians definitely doesn't hurt.These guys started as something of a supergroup. Scott Radinsky was originally the vocalist for Scared Straight, who transformed into Ten Foot Pole. Now - as many of you know, Scott Radinsky's day job is that he's a Major League Baseball pitcher (White Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, Indians) - which pretty much puts him out of punk rock commission for most of the year. Ten Foot Pole decided that they wanted to pursue the band more than they had - so they kicked Scott out.Scott - still wanting to be in a band - formed Pulley, taking guys from other well-known bands of that ilk (Face to Face, Strung Out, Ten Foot Pole) - and putting out this, their excellent debut record. What started as a "supergroup" of some sort - has now had line-up stabilization, and is now a band which does tour & put out records at pretty regular 2-year intervals - albeit at the mercy of Scott's baseball schedule (which has apparently lightened up a bit recently as his skills seem to be somewhat on the decline, as he had an awful spring training, and was waived by the Indians). If Radinsky does retire from baseball, will that mean more action for his musical projects?? That remains to be seen.Ironically, Ten Foot Pole - the band which kicked him out because they wanted to be more active - has actually been LESS active than Pulley - only putting out 2 records since Scott's departure (whereas Pulley has now released 4 records since 1996). This is for varying reasons, not the least of which was the tragic death of TFP bass player Leigh Lawson in August of 2000. TFP is apparently still around - getting ready to do something.....but we'll see.Anyway - back to this record - just a couple of things from past reviewers that need to be cleared up:1) TFP did NOT break up - they kicked Scott out because they wanted to more active.2) Scott's vocals are NOT "snotty"....when I think of "snotty", I think Fat Mike (NOFX) or Joe Queer (Joe Queers), or any of the other multitude of vocalists who do a faux-Cockney-accent-type-thing. Scott's vocals are NOT like this at all. His vocals are very melodic, but actually quite laid-back sounding at the same time - as if he's confident in his abilities, and doesn't feel the need to rush through much of anything. No - he's not the greatest vocalist in the world - but he's far from the worst...he holds his own against a backdrop of killer instrumentalists.Definitely a recommended album for fans of the genre."

4.5 Stars

Jeff Cheek | Newport Beach, CA | 10/25/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Oh my gosh, what can I say this album is wonderful. Every song is so good, the emotion, the lyrics, the music, it just pulls me in, I love listening to it. I dig Scott's voice, this band just kicks."

4.5 starts

Jeff Cheek | 12/04/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"a great cd, but not perfect. songs like cashed in, one shot, she, lifer, and all we have make this cd really worth wile. all in all a great cd, i strongly recommend it.also check out any of the punk o ramas, theyre awesome."