If truth in advertising laws applied to bands, I'd sue The Living End. The back of the band's self-titled debut CD depicts three pompadoured young men. One is playing a beat-up, old Gretsch guitar with the Rev. Horton Heat's signature on it. Another slaps away on an upright bass, while the drummer beats away on a minimalist kit. The only odd element is the band's punk rock attire.

So what have we here? A punkabilly band? The two genres have blended successfully in the past, producing quality acts such as Social Distortion (on the punk side) and the aforementioned Reverend (on the rockabilly side).

Bearing this in mind, I did not expect The Living End to sound like your average, snotty-nosed, whiny-voiced punk rock band. Unfortunately, that's exactly what they are. The band plays all-too-typical pop-punk numbers in the Lookout Records vein, with a splash of Less Than Jake-style ska thrown in for flavor. The end result comes off sounding like MXPX on a Stray Cats kick.

Although some songs carry faint rockabilly echoes in a good zooming guitar riff or two and fast-paced slap-bass, the band fails to create a distinctive hybrid. Even the best songs, such as the swampy "Bloody Mary" and the energetic "Have They Forgotten," are ruined by singer Chris Cheney's nasal vocals.

Fans of lightweight punk with harmless politics might find The Living End fun. Those expecting a fresh, young take on the cow-punk/psychobilly thing will be sorely disappointed.

- L. Basalla