Koufax

KOUFAX
SOCIAL LIFE
VAGRANT RECORDS

Pretentious music snobs—you know you've met a few. Hell, the fact that you're reading this review means you most likely are one. But be warned: Pretentious Music Snobbery (PMS) is no laughing matter. You see, a common side effect of PMS is Label Snob Syndrome, and Koufax, simply put, have the misfortune of being on Vagrant Records, home to such blandly despicable emo acts as the Get Up Kids and Dashboard Confessional. Why? It's beyond us; Social Life is easily one of the most perfectly crafted pop-rock productions of the post-Ben Folds Five era, without a hint of emo anywhere on the album. And their super-tight basslines and I-wanna-stay-drunk-and-nineteen-forever lyrics reflect more than a little of recent Vagrant's signee Paul Westerberg. Die-hard Vagrant fans need not fret: on "Let Us Know," "So Put On" and "Younger Body, Older Soul," the band prove they're unabashedly obsessed with their keyboards and synthesizers. Thankfully, however, Koufax's brilliant songwriting transcends the typical Vagrant fare. Sufferers of PMS will want to hate this album. But if you simply listen to the album's bounce-inducing title track, you'll find that's impossible. Remember: don't fight the cure.