Downstater are hailing from Quebec City, Canada and this is their debut full length that came out with People of Punk Rock Records. This one contains ten songs. What do we get here? We get dose of melodic punk/skate punk with nineties influences, like it was played back in the days reminding me of all those bands that I grew up with. This album is emotional, dramatic, intense and melancholic, but also grandiose in richness of melody, backing vocal harmonies and superb songwriting. From the excellent opener ‘Thanks For Nothing’ which grinds everything in its path with contagious melody and superb chorus, this record is a rollercoaster of emotion, goosebumps and above all great excellent punk rock like we are used to from bands in Canadian scene. Musicianship is tight and if I must compare this band to some other bands it would be a mixture of No Use For A Name and Strung Out, being technical yet in your face punk rock at the same time, even with I dare say pop punk sensibility. Vocals are not too mellow or snotty at all, they are strong but fit in like butter on fine bread. It is very hard for me to choose favorites between these ten songs, because they are all excellent, but I will try. They are: ‘Call Me When You’re Dead’, ‘Let You Down’ and ‘Cruelest Defeats’ along with above mentioned song. I love this band and album!

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