“A little less tough and a lot more awesome” reads the inside of One for the Good Guys, the debut from Static Radio NJ, and that pretty much sums up the band’s existence. Punk/hardcore in the vein of every band Dr. Dan Yemin has been in (Lifetime/Kid Dynamite/Paint It Black/Armalite/your mom), the band packs plenty of crunch and four second bass solos into each song. With seven songs totaling less than 10 minutes, One for the Good Guys is a brief, but promising, hardcore release. From the album opening title track to closer “Who’s Laughing Now,” Static Radio NJ does not let up, thrashing and grinding its instruments and listeners’ heads to powder. The band takes its motto seriously, as these tunes are anti-mook-core all the way. Songs are so trim that they can barely break the one minute mark (one cut, “Stand Aside,” clocks in at 25 seconds. But those 25 seconds are all wicked awesome). “Who’s Laughing Now” is only 2:10, but it feels epic compared to the rest of the EP. But while there may not be much to One for the Good Guys in terms of length, it does get by on extreme replay ability. One could easily spend an hour with this disc on repeat, allowing the blistering tracks to pummel the ear drums over and over.
Let’s face it: Kid Dynamite ain’t getting back together anytime soon, but with Static Radio NJ, the pain of such a loss can be abated. Hardcore and punk has been overrun by irony, guyliner, and “bros.” Praise be to Yemin and Jersey, One for the Good Guys is an invigorating, obliterating blast of hardcore righteousness.
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