Forty Hour Train Back to Penn

Bonus CD includes an unreleased acoustic song, "Sailor Tattoos", as well as songs from Drive-Thru Records artists The Starting Line, Home Grown, Allister, Rx Bandits, The Early November, Steel Train and Senses Fail.

New York's the Movielife cut their teeth as spiky hardcore upstarts, but with Forty Hour Train Back to Penn, they've evolved into a quality pop-punk band. Crushing tight emo intensity, shout-along choruses, and post-hardcore dynamics into a polished package, they provide a fine example of label Drive-Thru Records' skill at nailing the brightly populist side of modern punk. "Jamestown" displays the kind of heartfelt emo fury that At the Drive-In specialized in; the song chronicles a recent van crash that left frontman Vinnie Carusa "bruised and broken" and gives the album its name. Elsewhere, emotional pain drives Carusa's lyrics. "Face and Kneecaps" deals with a relationship nearing the end, while "Kelly’s Song" strikes a strong chord with the line: "When Kelly cries / The makeup runs from her eyes / Spilling the truth / Of how she feels inside." This is a band that plays to its strengths. --Louis Pattison