This Town's Disaster (Dig)

Blackpool Lights | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Appeal Records
• ASIN: B000FII21Q
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,979 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The debut by former Get Up Kids singer and guitarist Jim Suptic's new band is largely a delight. This is sappy, excellent power pop that exists far outside the tidy and tedious realm of "emo," so let's all agree to not use that word again in reference to Suptic's work, ever. "Maybe Just Maybe" is simply one of the best songs released this year; the hooks in that tune are so large you could fish with them all day. "Empty Tank" might be a tad overdone in its rockist celebration of loner underground bands, but it wouldn't work unless it was so over the top. The band's already been through a lot; early on, drummer Billy Brimblecom discovered he had cancer and was forced to amputate a leg. Forget Fall Out Boy: here's sturdy and emotional rock music on par with the Replacements, dB's, and Weezer. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

Blackpool Lights frontman Jim Suptic tends toward understatement. Upon the release of the Kansas City band's debut album, This Town's Disaster (on Suptic's own Curb Appeal Records), he says: ''This is just sincere, unpretentious rock music. We don't have a gimmick; what you see is what you get.'' But the level of craft and passion underlining these 11 songs suggests there's more to Blackpool Lights than Suptic lets on. He's candid, for instance, about the band's birth, after the death of his previous outfit, the Get Up Kids. Much of the material on This Town's Disaster was written when the songwriter himself was in a transitional period. The new band, now comprised of Suptic (vocals, guitar), guitarist-singer Thom Hoskins, bassist Brian Everard and drummer Billy Brimblecom, started as a bunch of people who wanted to do something fresh and exciting. Blackpool Lights played exactly one gig before real disaster struck. Billy Brimblecom was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma. Suptic remembers: ''Billy knew he'd have to do his drum parts before he started getting sick from the chemo. It was unbelievable - Billy's hair was already falling out, but he tracked 14 songs in two days, and he did an amazing job.'' Unable to arrest the spread of the cancer in his lower leg, his doctors would have to amputate at the knee. Everyone was stunned. But, Suptic says, ''Billy quickly realized, as he puts it, that it was either a funeral for him or a funeral for his leg, so he had the surgery.'' Now cancer-free, Brimblecom has been fitted with a state-of-the-art, computer chip-enhanced prosthetic. ''When you see him onstage, you'd never know,'' Suptic attests. Undeniable, too, is the magnetic appeal of This Town's Disaster tracks - almost all of them are persistently upbeat, sonically crisp, and instrumentally tight but they also manage to breathe. ''After what we've been through to make sure these songs get heard,'' he says, ''everything seems to be alright. I guess you just have to hang in there and think positively and, it's amazing, but stuff does work out.''

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice debut for Suptic and crew, June 22, 2007

By 

Dusty Punch (McKinley, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Town's Disaster (Dig) (Audio CD)

One listen to "This Town's Disaster," and you'll come to the realization that the songwriting talent of the Get Up Kids was equally distributed. Standout tracks include "Lost Without You,""Blue Skies," and "Goodnight to Romance." Suptic's voice is perfectly suited for the refreshingly non-emo sound. There's room to grow, but with the quality of their first album that can only mean good things.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best cds of the year, December 3, 2006

By 

Squire Boone (Ames, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Town's Disaster (Dig) (Audio CD)

This cd definately tops my list for one of the best cds of the year. This is by far one of the strongest debuts from any band I've heard in a long time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Power POP, August 3, 2006

By 

Film Buff "APD" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Town's Disaster (Dig) (Audio CD)

I don't know much about the Get Up Kids or emo music but I love this cd. It is great power pop from start to finish. I caught their show in Brooklyn and they were so great live. I came home and bought the entire cd off of Amazon and I love it! This disc definitely captures excitement of the live show. Don't know what is going on with the dude below but he needs to relax and enjoy this album on its own merits. And by the way, I googled their lyrics and they're great too.