It is rare that a dime-a-dozen review jobber for a somewhat progressive news rag gets to indulge in rampant, drooling nationalistic condescension. I would like to heartily thank Useless I.D. for giving me this opportunity to be a horrible human being.

These four longhair ex-teenage punks play exactly the kind of music you’d expect from longhair ex-teenage punks, which is to say slick, pleasant melodic punk in the vein of the Fat Wreck sound. The press release, speaking of the band’s split with the Ataris, goes so far as to say, “Many couldn’t tell where the Ataris ended and Useless I.D. began.” And that sums it up: You’ve heard this band every weekend at the Living Room. Even the cover art seems pinched from Fifteen’s seminal pop-punk release, The Choice of a New Generation.

Here’s the kicker, though: These boys are all from Israel, but sing in competent English. I can think of at least three dozen other popular punk bands who are less coherent, in fact. But for some wretched, xenophobic reason, this makes them somehow… charming. But since all these guys seem earnest, hardworking and competent, this gringo can’t help but find them cute.