3 out of 5

Label: Asian Man Records

Produced by: Lance Reynolds

I was so eager to see what Dan Potthast and crew would do with mu330 after their self-titled release; that was such a brash, off-kilter but perfect evolution of their particular ska-punk sound – and the style in general – that I couldn’t imagine what would come next.

…And maybe the same was true for the band, as we got one live album, and then this final release, Ultra Panic, before Dan would go on to his solo career and other projects. Given that Dan’s sound hereafter was somewhat more “traditional,” but imbued with his clever, relatable lyrical approach and endless wealth of pop hooks, you can go back and frame Ultra Panic as sort of a last ditch attempt to find energy in the punked-up format of mu330. It absolutely sounds like the band, and shows off quite amazing musicianship, with those lovely dense bass lines butted up against punky / poppy drumming, and deft ruse of rock riffs and horns, but it also doesn’t offer any new update to what’d been done on previous albums – perhaps particularly Chumps on Parade – and the topics similarly feel like retreads of silly thoughts and lost loves, but minused the more adult POV Dan would take on his solo stuff, making it comes across as… y’know, a little dated.

The group’s energy throughout is undeniable, making it a fun and distracting listen, to the point where the blast of the first few tracks is pretty convincing that we’re getting mu330 2.0 or something, returning to “roots” while revitalized by experience, but that sparkle wears off by about track 5’s KKK Hiway, which is just cookie cutter ska stuff. Ultra Panic does have some new wrinkles here and there, allowing for more horn solos and Dan working in some rock n’ roll riffs, it just feels like “let’s give this a shot” than anything really revolutionary, though, which is the overall vibe of the disc. Solid, but very, very familiar.