The Melismatics are a punk/power-pop band from Minnesota. They are a high energy group that is still very young and wear their influences on their sleeves. Being from the Midwest doesn’t stop them from having an attitude of a band from the coast.

The Acid Test features 10 shots at power pop stardom. The band has the ability to produce polished songs worthy of mainstream airplay if they could get the right support. “Digging Deep” is the most obvious example of this. It is a clean pop song that shows that the band could gain mass popularity with huge audience.

The album starts with “Industry of Cool” and “The Stranger” a back-to-shot of adrenaline displaying the bands clean sound with big catchy hooks. They also dabble in the less straight forward pop styles. On “Soul Sucker” they conjure up images of The Faint and Franz Ferdinand with their retro sound and tempo changes.

The band may fall into Green Day and All-American Rejects territory if you wish to classify them. They don’t really tread on any fresh ground with The Acid Test but what they decide to do, they do extremely well. I would rather hear a band stick to what they do well than try to change the world any day. It is easy to go too far trying to change the world like Green Day did on 21st Century Breakdown or push the musical envelope too far like Radiohead’s King of Limbs. The Melismatics just put together well-crafted, fun songs that are full of energy.

Key Tracks: “The Stanger” “Industry of Cool” Digging Deep”