Slick Shoes -- Wake Up Screaming

7/10

SoCal punk-rockers, Slick Shoes, return with 2000's Wake Up Screaming, an album that has that definite, we just went through some hard times, but things are better now vibe. It's really a sort of year 2000 vibe in general, as off the top of my head, MxPx, Foo Fighters, and Pearl Jam all put out albums with a similar vibe around that time. Maybe I'm just projecting. Whatever the case, the millennium isn't the only change here. Slick Shoes have lost two guitarists, and added one in their place, Greg Togawa. Togawa came on right before Wake Up Screaming was recorded, and he himself has lamented that the short amount of time he had to prepare for the album limited his creativity. It shows, as Wake Up Screaming has a certain monochromatic feeling that the previous two Slick Shoes albums lack. There's just not a lot of variation in the guitar tones, patterns, and writing from song-to-song. Togawa's playing isn't bad, it's simply a bit repetitive, making for a Slick Shoes album where several of the songs do little to stand out from the others. This is unfortunate, as the band seem intent on progression, adding plenty of tempo changes and surprise outros to the songs.
Wake Up Screaming has several pros in addition to more advanced song structures, though. Vocalist, Ryan Kepke, now almost old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes, has grown into his voice. This is also the moment he became the punk-rock paramour. His love songs almost become a trademark at this point, with "Angel," "Lucky," and "Elisa" all standing out. Wake Up Screaming also contains a cool element where a lot of the tracks go right into the next at their end, keeping the music continuous, particularly between "Angel" and "Peace of Mind," and "Elisa" and "Don't Mess With Texas," which gives the album more of a living breathing feeling, despite the feeling of sameness between some of the songs.
Overall, Wake Up Screaming is one of Slick Shoes' weakest albums, but it's still blazing fast, and features some standout songs, and progressive elements. In hindsight, it's the bridge from Rusty and Burn Out to their self-titled album...which I'll get to as soon as I shake off the Fratelli's.

Personally, I started college right after Wake Up Screaming was released, and hoo boy did I have a rough first couple of weeks that first semester. I cried the night of my first day, about ten minutes into my first reading assignment, feeling completely overwhelmed. Faced with so much change, I looked desperately for some sense of familiarity. One day, I walked down to the North fringe of campus to Paradise Records, and noticed Wake Up Screaming on the shelf. Paradise Records--what a great store. They generally carried the entire Tooth & Nail Records catalogue. Really, Paradise's entire punk rock selection was incredible. I remember picking up a Face to Face album one time there, as well, among others. Anyway, even though Wake Up Screaming isn't the best Slick Shoes album, it and a copious amount of MxPx most certainly helped me get through those first few months of college. I miss Paradise Records more than any other shuttered music store, and unfortunately, it closed just a year after I started college, making FYE (RIP) and the Compact Disc Store (RIP) my new musical hangouts of choice.

2000 Tooth & Nail Records
1. Another Day 2:40
2. Constancy 2:14
3. Angel 2:16
4. Peace of Mind 2:34
5. Hide & Seek 1:39
6. Lucky 2:39
7. Have I Said to Much? 3:01
8. Elisa 2:18
9. Don't Mess With Texas 2:35
10. Good Intentions 3:51
11. This Is Your Life 1:39
12. There's a Reason 3:01
13. I Guess 2:23
14. Not That Far 2:43
15. [Untitled Track] 1:43