There's something really endearing about The Perry Lane Sect. Their music has a very low production value, they aren't the best musicians in the world, but my god, they try hard. There's such passion behind the way that they play, I find it really hard to hate them, not that I'm trying to. "Everyone Hates The Perry Lane Sect" is rock in one of it's purest forms and is performed with such conviction that it really makes you sit up and listen to them. It's really exciting to hear something as raw as this.

The group started off as a duo. Turning up to their first gig, they each thought that the other one had arranged a drummer. So, turning up to gig without a drummer, they acquired one and had to jam their way through their set, to the appreciation of the crowd. This ramshackle organization continued, as they recorded their album by sneaking into their college and using the equipment without anyone knowing. Their passion for their craft is evident on the album and really shines through in a good way.

Essentially The Perry Lane Sect are a garage-punk band, their style spans back across punk, to classic rock and heavy metal. They really know good music and are able to implement it effectively into their set-up and the huge, bulging bag of tricks that The Perry Lane Sect are dragging about is a real treat to behold. In a world where everything needs to be polished and digitally remastered, it's a very refreshing change when the music is what matters to a band.

The album begins and I was wondering what I was getting myself in for. An unlistenable cacophony of screaming and shouting and noise underlain with drums and guitar hit the speakers and made me wonder if what I was listening to was a joke album made to distress and disturb the listener. Thankfully it quickly moves past this and slips seamlessly into the real music.

Each track brings it's own unique viewpoint and has the power to keep you interested and even surprised throughout. Just when you think you've gotten used to the hard rock, shouty singing and the rocking guitars, they bring out a thirteen minute symphony, slowing things right down, with a sound-scape that punctuates the music you've heard so far. The track order on this album is something that works really well and is obviously something that Perry Lane Sect have spent some time on and really thought about having an album that flows well and the tracks proceed from one to the next with great effect. In this time of ipods and itunes, some artists feel that they don't need to produce an album that is a complete work by itself, not The Perry Lane Sect, they know how they want you to listen to their work.

Once we get back to the fast and loud, The Perry Lane Sect continue to impress, taking us from the very heavy metal influenced first half of the album and stripping it down a bit, adding keyboards and adding an extra dynamic that wasn't there before. They still pack the same punch, but the development through the tracks is superb. As we approach the end of the album, the synths get more andmore of the limelight as The Perry Lane Sect go prog all over your ass and again, retain their own use of the style and continue to keep it interesting.

The album is quite long for an album of it's kind (over an hour) but as soon as I finished listening to it, I let it loop right around and play again. Their ability to pick and choose which genres they are getting their influences from, while not compromising their own sound is amazing. While listening to this album, I got whiffs of influence reminiscent of everything from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Rolling Stones, Rage Against the Machine, The Ramones, and on and on, but with "influence" being the operative word. They don't copy these bands and styles, they just have listened to a lot of good music.

Hopefully The Perry Lane Sect won't lose their edge once a label inevitably picks them up and wants them to record in a large studio with all the bells and whistles that would include. Don't lose your integrity, lads.