The Briefs
Steal Yer Heart
BYO

The Briefs are one of the best punk rock bands around today, bottom line. It's a fact. One of the few bands to capture the spirit of '79, the Briefs wear their influences on their sleeves. The pop sensibilities and knack for multi-part vocal melodies straight from the Boys' song book, the buzzsaw guitar work of Gen X, the pre-new wave rantings and ravings of the Weirdos, the frantic over-the-topness of the Toy Dolls and Dickies, and the fashion sense of a "Disconected"-era Stiv Bators, the Briefs are the whole package.

Not since the Rotters penned "Sit On My Face Stevie Nicks" did a band make such an impression by calling out a bloated has-been rock star- and then the Briefs released their first single entitled "Silver Bullet". The chorus of "Kill Bob Seeger right now!" swept the nation and gained the band an underground following. With their 2000 debut album Hit After Hit (Dirtnap Records) the band established them selves as day glow assassins armed to the teeth, with a flair for vintage punk rock and eye liner. It wasn't soon after that the band established a following by touring with the Thrasher magazine tour. After a brief (no pun intended) romance with a major label and a recording a record for them (which will never see the light of day), the band released their next record Off the Charts (once again on Dirtnap) to mixed fan fare. The band took more of a pop approach (in the sense that one would call the Ramones pop). As a reaction to the election the band spotlighted their more political side and in 2004 released Sex Objects for BYO. Full of anti-establishment and anti-propaganda punk rock outburst ("Orange Alert" for example), the band proved to everyone they aren't a novelty or as dumb as they pretend to be.

Steal Yer Heart picks up right where Sex Objects left off, ditching the politics for more songs about girls. In fact, the truth of the matter is this could very well be the Briefs' very first collection of (gulp!) "love songs". But while most artists would pack an album’s worth of prom themes, ballads and sappy pop songs to infect the ear drums of the youth of America, the Briefs do the opposite. They use two and a half minute rock and roll sonic love assaults. From the hilariously stupid "Getting Hit On At the Bank" to the spastic "Stuck On You" there is no mistaking these guys for saps. They take the subject of love about as seriously as they do anything... that is to say, not very seriously at all, "I was eighteen, she was forty-five/ I met her in some sleazy dive..." starts off the track entitled "Forty and Above" which pretty much explains the maturity and "finesse" the band tackles the older woman issue.

For the most part the band comes across cleverly stupid, which is not to dismiss them in the least bit. Their song structure and signature four way vocal duty proves that they have some smarts in their peroxide covered heads. There is just this level of fun and recklessness that comes across through their music. The fun rambunctiousness and danger that punk rock should always embrace runs rapid through out this record. "She Moves Too Slow" makes you want to move faster and faster leaving a wake of broken bottles and over turned tables. The pogo was invented for albums such as this.

While there are a few songs on the album that are only "so-so" ("My Girl (Wants To Be a Zombie)" for instance) they are by no means awful enough to skip over. The band is just so damn catchy you can't really dislike them. For the most part Steal Yer Heart is a plethora of fun filled sonic misconduct. -Bobby M