In a world full of clutter and over exposure it’s rare to find an honest approach to music. Long Island, NY’s Project 27 have taken such a path with their debut full length CD, Smarten Up! The record chronicles songwriter Joey Mac’s transformation from a teen to young adulthood. These 12 tight, well written and perfectly produced songs capture a sense of urgency, honesty and effort rarely seen. Most write ups like this hype with terms like “epic” or “anthems” or “ear meltingly great”. None of that silly bullshit here….It’s simply a”Great Record!” -Rally

Reviews:

A testament to perseverance, Project 27′s long-awaited debut full-length comes as one of the most pleasant surprises of the summer. This Long Island-based band’s been around for a really long time, hanging in through multiple personnel changes, long hiatuses (the singer relocated to another state for a while,) and scraping out gigs well outside the geographical boundaries of the NYC pop/punk scene. But here they are, on a national tour as I write this, with one of the strongest, catchiest, and well-constructed albums of the year to their credit. The “Time To Fold” EP (whose songs are repeated here, remixed and with extra guitars) let us know that these Long Island young’uns had an LP’s worth of solid tunes in them, but I really wasn’t expecting songs this polished and well-produced. Singalong anthems follow one after another – “Time To Fold,” “Gotta Get Up,” “My Future,” “Next September” – each bringing a bit of a twist to the usual Weaselcore formula of teen angst lyrics, one-string solos, bracing verses, and fist-pumping choruses. The two-guitar attack bristles with dynamic tension, elevating the band’s sound beyond the usual power-chord chug of a lot of pop/punk, and the harmony vocals accentuate the band’s knack for memorable melodies. Good work, guys, and kudos for hanging in there.

Reviewed by Jim Testa at jerseybeat.com

July 2008

Another nominee for album of the year. Yes, there’s been a few so far, but none have been as consistent in all fields like the first album from this energetic, lyrically innovative – though still maintaining a loose, carefree simplicity – but still fairly undiscovered heavy hitting New York pop-punk band. Seriously, I can’t think of one filler track. With Smarten Up, Project 27 create a discourse which never lets down and yet their strong twelve song set somehow avoids sounding too repetitive. That’s not to say this is a life-changing record, but it’s certainly had a great impact on me. The only album of 2008 thus far which hasn’t contained a single track I would think of skipping, this will no doubt see me through the rest of the year.

All the right elements are present: catchy chorus lines, a raw and rasping but strangely soothing vocal style from RP, and heavy production which allows a clean but beefy sound to what could be accused of being overly subtle like many bands in a similar vein but thanks to this factor, isn’t. This couldn’t be made more obvious in a delightfully noisy opening wall of static and an intense barrage of gang vocals. You just don’t understand, this band is doing something very special as well as acting as a powerful musical unit. It is all too easy to dismiss them as just another Blink 182 when you hear all the re-recorded hits from E.P’s from the last couple of years, but far from it. The addictive “Next September,” “Dying” and “Time To Fold” are cleverly sequenced, with a new and improved version of “Alfonzo’s Morning” with its brilliant keyboard fadeout acting as yet another perfect closing track (also the wrap-up to the Time To Fold E.P). Usually, this kind of trick bugs me (note: the latest Off With Their Heads) – only eight out of twelve songs are originals?! – but here I am more than happy to oblige some forgiveness. One of my favourite songs has to be “Not What I’m Hopin’,” which stands out as the ballad among a load of short but snappy compositions. “Bloody Nose,” another favourite, is almost a polar opposite to “Hopin’,” but is equally as impressive. It could be the fluid yet razor sharp, guitar playing and seemingly endless drum beats, but I think more likely it’s the recurrence of those magnificent gang vocals that are to blame for this obsession.

There is plenty of variation throughout the album, which is most evident in latter gothic rock inspired track “My Future,” where a dramatic opener sees the band suddenly sounding like they’re playing on the new Alkaline Trio L.P. In “Our History,” Project 27 could for a second be compared to just any old underground pop-punk band from New York, but this is saved by the delectable vocal harmonies which float in amid the relentless chug-chug-chug guitar patterns near the middle of the song. These examples prove this group could potentially win a more mainstream following if they wished, and that they can switch styles with great ease – which, surely, can only be a good sign.

Thematically, you are given all the cliché drama sitcom type situations, y’know: feeling outcasted and worrying about looking like a loser in front of That Girl, the standard pitfalls of a long term relationship in “Bloody Nose,” “I’m hangin’ on to something that’s not there, oh I know just damn well about it, and I can sing about it” and even the song about a guy with new found confidence, “Gotta Get Up” (or is it about penis trouble?), “I gotta get up, I gotta get out, I gotta start movin’…” There is all this fairly censored frustration in the lyrical sense until the cursing and almost psychotic exasperation (in comparison) in songs like “Passing Phase” which give it that more “shocking” edge, which renders them untouchable for the radio at that point. Encapsulating the inner turmoil of feeling like a social mosquito, “I feel so fucking lame, I feel so fucking lame around you,” Project 27 are a teenage punk’s best friend.

Reviewed by punkornothing.com

July 2008

Track Listing:

1. All Bad Things

2. Time To Fold

3. Gotta Get Up

4. Bloody Nose Play

5. Five Days

6. Dying

7. My Future

8. Next September

9. Passing Phase

10.  Not What I’m Hopin’

11. Our History

12. Alfonzo’s Morning

* Available on CD and Digital Download