Sourpatch, Crushin’

review by dave heaton

I have a soft spot for this kind of ramshackle amateur pop band, one that takes super-melodic little songs and plays them loud and loose. On Crushin’, Sourpatch open cute, getting a kid to read a “this is Sourpatch” hype intro, before the band runs quickly through 12 catchy songs with bracing guitars and pounding drums. There’s a real punk-rock restlessness here, in the pace and the sing-song vocals, but these are also little emotional dramas.

The song title “Never (Ever Ever) Enough” seems representative of the hunger and drive in the way they play. But the song itself is a diagnosis of relationship breakdown, with a lot of sadness in it; the title is more like “all I do is never enough for you”. These are songs about people, about crushes and conflicts, and contain lots of longing. It’s “emo” in a good way.

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