The Ergs!

Upstairs/Downstairs

[4.5/5] Forgoing the rest of the album, the powerhouse duo “Bike Shoppe” and “Girls Of The Market Square”-songs reminiscent of Less Than Jake’s Losers, Kings, And Things We Don’t Understand-would garner Upstairs/Downstairs a stellar review. But New Jersey’s the Ergs don’t skimp anywhere on their second full-length, unleashing 15 tracks that are all noteworthy in their own right, the majority being high-caliber melodic pop-punk a la Descendents (see the freewheeling, catchy gems “Boston, Mass,” “Trouble In River City,” “Flourescent Stars” and the punchy blasts “Your Cheated Heart” and the 30-second “Things I Could Never Find A Way To Say”). Also of note are the band’s stab at a country-drenched cryin’-in-my-beer ditty (“Stinking Of Whiskey Blues”); an epic improv jam (the 14-minute mid-tempo title track); and a few sweet love songs (the ’60s pop throwback “See Him Again,” “Books About Miles Davis”). (DIRTNAP) Janelle Jones