Leftover Crack/Citizen Fish

Deadline

[3/5] If Al Gore’s multimedia presentations couldn’t convert punks into global-warming believers, perhaps Deadline will scare them into going green. Using ominous tones and urgent, pulsating riffs, Citizen Fish forecast a “Meltdown” that leaves society bereft of sunlight, oxygen and, poignantly, waterfalls. Leftover Crack envision “the human race capsized.” Both groups counterbalance their apocalyptic prophecies with melodies, often incorporating ska’s upbeat guitar rhythms. During “Baby-Punchers,” Leftover Crack’s Scott Sturgeon warns “cash-cravers” of their impending “grisly torture and death,” but the backdrop, driven by dual-guitar harmonies, is more catchy than dire. Even lyrically, Deadline isn’t all doom and gloom; Citizen Fish tout laughter as a form of self-defense, while Leftover Crack propose Sesame Street-style conflict-resolution strategies (“If your neighbors keep you up at night/Then talk to ’em, don’t start a fight”). Jello Biafra, who contributes a spoken-word tirade, once sang “punk’s not dead”; this release confirms the genre’s continued vitality and vigilance. (FAT WRECK CHORDS) Andrew Miller