Accident Prone

Accident Prone were a local band in my area who were inspired by Green Day during the mid-90's to pick up guitars and play pop-punk. This may sound like the background story of your typical garage pop-punk band, but while they were still around, AP got to play with a whole bunch of well-known bands like the Gadjits and Gob, and enjoyed rotation on a now defunct radio station. Hey, that's not bad for a band that never even got signed to an indie. But they deserved it, because my local band could mop the floor with your local band. They decided to call it a day in 2003 because they simply didn't have time for the band anymore.

56 Seconds (2000) 8 Thumbs Up

This album was completely independently produced, and it wasn't even an EP or demo. Now that's impressive. The production is slick; it's hard to believe no labels whatsoever were involved. That said, it's often a bit too overproduced. I mean, by the time you're halfway through the album, it all starts to sound the same. This seems to be really common with pop-punk bands - their songs are not bad, but are produced in such a way that all the tracks start to blur into one another. C'mon, you guys grew up in the Green Day era - this should sound like Dookie, not the Ataris or whatever. Of course, I'd take this over static-y lo-fi anyday, so not all is lost.

But disregarding the production, tracks like "Anything's Possible," "Just Like You," and "Close Enough" are damn good. It's catchy and the lead singer can actually sing - what a bonus! Pop-punk bands inspired by the 90's are far better than the "new school" ones today, let me tell you. The last "hidden" track, (actually just unlisted on the CD cover) "Grandma" is just plain hilarious. I wish I could've seen these guys play it live while they were still around. A great debut, especially for an independent band. A toast to Accident Prone!

Hiatus [EP] (2003) 8 Thumbs Up

This was supposed to be a full-length follow-up to 56 Seconds, but the band decided to call it quits before it could move past demo status. They put the 6 recorded tracks up on their website as a downloadable EP as a final farewell to their fans. I wish they could've stuck it out long enough to release this as a complete CD, myself. Everything's finally come together. No more horrible slick production that makes it sound like bland pop-punk! It sounds far more raw, (maybe because they didn't get to finish it?) and keeps your attention span far better than the last album.

It's still catchy pop-punk, but with an aggressive alternative edge, and that's what always given Accident Prone a huge advantage over other bands. Opening track "Don't Call" and "Yours Truly" are the best examples of their awesome style, plus closing emo-ish acoustic track "Somebody's Road" makes me all sad and nostalgic and such. It sounds a bit unfinished due to the circumstances behind its release, but overall, this is a great send-off from a great, if underappreciated, band.

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