If you, like me, were a teenager in the early 2000s, you probably went through a rebel phase where listening to Blink 182 and Linkin Park made you feel super bad-ass, and prep kids at school cowered at the sight of your black nails, spiked bracelets and emo haircut.
No. 15 is the embodiment of that era and while I prefer not to reminisce too much on that time (I was kak lame, let’s not beat around the bush) any music that brings back those memories is going to pull on my pre-teen heartstrings, and that is exactly what no. 15 does.
Heavily distorted guitars, lyrics filled with an excess of teen-angst and just the right amount of screaming, singing and dark whispered lines, ticks all the boxes for a late ‘90s early 2000s alternative album. The only problem is that it’s 2015, and as much as music is supposed to be timeless, this feels outdated at the best of times. If I had picked this up 10 years ago, I would probably have fallen in love with the band straight away though, and that says something.
There are definitely a couple of tracks I dig. ‘Mean Mister Meaner’ starts off with a strong Nirvana feel to it, and there is a slight ska undertone which brings in an interesting dynamic, before the hard-rock/alternative chorus brings the perfect beat for a good head bang. ‘Rats’ has a pretty sick break and there’s a pretty cool industrial rock instrumental hidden track.
Overall, it’s not bad. If you want to relive your teen days then definitely give this a listen.
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