CKY

An Answer Can Be Found

[5] You can hear CKY’s sound all over pop culture-from the weirdly compressed riffs and marketable angst of Three Days Grace to the gazillion Bam Margera-related projects the band (featuring Bam’s brother, Jess, on drums) help soundtrack. Unfortunately, focusing on that stuff, you overlook the songs CKY actually write: not really pop, not easily marketable (though weirdly compressed, for sure), and way deeper than Viva La Bam-but happy to be ignored by anyone who just doesn’t get the band’s vision. And, trust us, there’s a lot to get on An Answer Can Be Found: Churning with the same slowed-down death-metal riffs and midtempo backbeat that’ve become CKY’s trademarks, the band’s fourth album puts a monster new spin on the old formula of “chops + hooks = pure rock power.” Every riff feels precision cut; every melody holds a surprise; every drumbeat knocks the ball into the pocket; and the synth and classical-guitar accents (see the interlude “Behind The Screams”) serve the songs perfectly. The only thing missing is a permanent bass player-but these guys have pinch-hit themselves for so long, why fault ‘em for being particular? (ISLAND)-Aaron Burgess