My mid-life crisis has taken the form of the rebirth of my love for indie and punk music, trying to discover and see as many new bands as possible. Some that I’ve found have been around for some time, while others are pretty new. The first band I discovered in 2019 was AM Taxi when I first listened to their upcoming sophomore album, Shiver By Me. The self-released effort set my bar for new music this year, and that bar is set quite high.
AM Taxi is a four-piece hailing from Chicago; Adam Krier’s vocals reminds me of Rancid and Gaslight Anthem and I’m sure would sound amazing live. Chris Smith on drums and Jason Schultejann on bass provide a phenomenal rhythm that makes every song exciting and fun to listen to. Jay Marino and Krier’s guitars sound great throughout the album.
As soon as I heard the opening track, “Saint Jane,” I knew this would be an album that will get plenty of airtime during my daily commute. The old-school punk beats and ska-feeling vocals have me bopping while sitting in traffic and having to really be careful of my speed when the road opens up.
Songs like “Movie About Your Life” and “Swim Before You Sink (Short Time on Earth)” are just fun and remind me of what I love about punk music. The first two tracks released, the aforementioned “Saint Jane” along with “Brandy Don’t Let Me Down,” will sure help the band quickly gain new fans with their danceable beats and lyrics that almost force you to sing along.
AM Taxi has a sound that makes it clear they have been influenced by bands such as Rancid, Dropkick Murphys and Anti-Flag. Instead of trying to sound like them, the band has taken aspects from each and created a new and exciting sound.
Too often an album will be released with two or three good tracks, a couple mediocre songs and a few more that should be left in the mixing computer but this definitely is not the case with Shiver By Me. Every song deserves to be on the album. It’s nice to listen to an album with no obvious “filler” tracks.
The self-released album will be available on Apple Music and Spotify January 25, 2019 with a limited edition vinyl pressing releasing via Mutant League Records in the spring.
TAGS: AM Taxi | Mutant League Records
Email: elliott.spinningthoughts@outlook.com
Twitter: @Elliott33RPM
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