4 out of 5

Label: Big Wheel Recreation

Produced by: Dean Baltulonis (recorded by)

Awesome growing pains. Piebald’s second album finds the group starting to cross the line: from navel-gazing hardcore punkers to more outward looking pop-punkers. Generally such a move is a bit of an embarrassment: forced “maturity” or too-obvious bids for radio stardom, but the band had been carving that path across preceding singles and an album; and Venetian allowed them to hold onto their bona fides by not catering too fervently towards a particular genre – deliver some quality lyrics; delivery some damn good hooks; and remember to rock out frequently; and you’re setting yourself up pretty well. Elevated even further by singer Travis Shettel’s generally brilliant foray into code-switching between being socially-awareness-curious and being a simple-minded youth who likes girls and parties, and the band’s endless ability to find the most catchy version of a particular chord sequence and melody, and even an obnoxious album title like ‘If It Weren’t For Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains For Us All’ becomes pretty damn charming.

The charm is initially indirect, though: opener ‘Grace Kelly With Wings’ feels like ultimate, dated cringe, and then proves to be a lyrical mash-up of girl ogling and plant care (what?) that flips a heartfelt emo chord progression into a pop-punk jam into a mathy rock out and then back again. The soft-sung intro to guitar splash is this kind of overly earnest indie thing that immediately sniffs of shark jumping, but once you start to tune in to the cactus-rearing lyrics, you’re back in it, in time for the hooks of the song to take over. Wild stuff.

While the remainder of the album is a bit more straight forward than that – songs are mostly rockers, acoustic numbers, or fun and silly bursts of punk energy, like ‘All You Need Is Drums To Start A Dance Party’ – the ability of the group to pair memorable lines with cheesy ones and predictable chord progressions with sudden weird-but-perfect diversions is impressive; occasional conceptual overreach ‘If Marcus Garvy Dies, Then Marcus Garvy Lives’ and avoidance of being too poppy can dim the momentum, but not complete. Plus, the band’s sincerity in presentation – like, acceptance that they’re still growing – gives the whole disc an extra layer of uniqueness.

My first pass of ‘Venetian’ was all about those growing pains: that the transition between genres and from youth to adulthood ultimately fractured the album’s sound. But the songs stuck, and the more time I spent with them, the more it felt like those pains were utlimately to the listener’s benefit: you’re experiencing Piebald find their way across 13 songs, and they just so happen to be equally skilled at being youthy punkers as they are at being slightly older and just a lil’ wiser popsters.