Pt. II: Home Is Where the Hate Is

Political punks from Germany, Paint the Town Red deliver a solid punch on their full-length debut. The superfluous "Part 2" might refer to the fact that they're the second band in less than two years to use this album title, but it's more likely a reference to this being the follow-up to their debut EP, 2003's The Last Gang in Town. Although the trebly sound shortchanges the quintet's rhythm section to a distracting degree, it adds a piercing quality to the two-guitar lineup that recalls the '70s U.K. punk attack that's their obvious point of inspiration. (Note the title of that EP, which they nicked from the Clash.) Musically, the band tends to sacrifice speed for intensity, again favoring the pre-hardcore favor for slower tempo and greater musical dynamics. The only real drawback is in the lyrics, which tend toward clichés that sound like they were cribbed from old Sham 69 and Angelic Upstarts records and given a Middle European gloss: "Streets of Munich Call My Name" and the awkward "Personally to the White House and All the Way Back to the Reichstag" are typical, although the impressively raging "We Are F**k You" at least provides a good dose of shout-along fury. Get past the derivative lyrics, however, and this is a solid slab of old-school punk.