Nuke & The NIghtshift CD Review

I'm incredibly impressed with the band's ability to conjure sounds and pull from so many different influences and somehow make a cohesive and enjoyable as hell pop punk album. Every track offers something a little different stylistically while maintaining the album's overall focus on infectious and catchy melodies.

Cold Hearted Rock and Roll starts off with the AFI influenced "All Yours". The bass intro draws you in and from that moment forward has you under its control. It's so incredibly catchy that I find myself listening to it over and over again. "Awake" gives off Mike Ness/Social Distortion vibes while "God's Lonely Man" comes across as an 80's hair metal ballad. "Baby I Know Your Dead" and "Sadistic" remind me at times of Tiger Army, especially the latter with it sounding like it could have been found on Retrofuture. Coming out of left field is the bluesy, Stevie Ray Vaughan inspired "Thinking of You" which is fun and I can see being played in a bar, Blues Brothers style. 

Although short, the album is memorable and thoroughly enjoyable. Admittedly, I am not the biggest pop punk fan, but I had fun here and will surely come back to it in the future. If you're looking for a quick romp in the hay with some ultra catchy ear worms, look no further than Cold Hearted Rock and Roll.

 ~TJ