I remember hearing these guys on a Jump Start Records compilation that I picked up at the 2001 Warped Tour, but kind of forgot about them until this full-length showed up. I plan to forget no more. “Twenty Years Tonight” is an exciting 10 song romp through a multitude of styles, all encompassing the genre of melodic hardcore, sometimes sounding like BAD RELIGION, SAVES THE DAY, INSIDE, ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES and some old-school hardcore. Yeah, you try to figure that our in your head… Anyway, the key to this Mechanicsville, Pennsylvania band is that they play with loads of intensity and show off a sound that ferocious. The “ludicrious speed” style production gives THE COMMERCIALS a powerful sound to work with, one that is somewhat unrefined, but ready to bowl you over on the stop of a dime. The vocals remind me heavily of INSIDE at times, but that kind of melodicism isn’t entirely consistent throughout, which is where the ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES comparison rolls in. No particular song stands out amongst the rest, but there are moments of blind fury where it seems like the band is ready to rip apart at their collective seams (“10.26.85″ and “Put You Out of Your Misery” come to mind). The artwork deserves some props on this release – it’s a 32 page booklet with great pictures and a wicked monthly calender concept. With such a diversity of modern punk and hardcore sounds coming together on this release, I can’t imagine what kind of stereo fights this band has in the van while on tour. Highly recommended.

Jump Start Records

www.jumpstartrecords.com