Natural Selection

Orange County's Gameface is sort of an emo group for grown-ups. Jeff Caudill and his mates make intelligent punk-pop for people who've grown out of the band t-shirt phase and quit the record store for a job with benefits, but find out when they get to the real world that the sidewalk has the same old cracks. Natural Selection is a holdover release in anticipation of a summer 2003 LP. It features re-recorded versions of five Gameface classics (dating to their 1993 debut), and one music video track. It serves as both a retrospective and an introduction, and illustrates well Caudill's clever lyricism and the band's mature sound. While "Daylight Savings" and "Friday Matinee" are strong songs (particularly the latter's emotional bridges), the new recordings sound a bit flat. Things brighten with "How Far Is October?" It's built out of the rhythm track from "How Far Is Goodbye?," a song that originally appeared on the 2000 10" What's Up Bro, but features lyrics scooped off the cutting-room floor of the sessions for Gameface's 2001 release, Always On. The result is a lower-key version of "Goodbye"; Caudill channels Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner throughout. Natural Selection will serve as a cool retrospective for longtime Gamefacers, but it's also a solid introduction to the band's smart sound.