Whole Wheat Bread – Minority Rules / 2005 Fighting Records / 11 Tracks / http://www.wholewheatbread.net / http://www.fightingrecords.com / Reviewed 20 March 2005

I hate being an ignorant ass and not reading the press sheets of bands I receive before putting on the disc. The cover of Whole Wheat Bread comes through as something that your average rapper would put out, but the music on the disc is a blistering salvo of pop-punk that looks back to the early nineties much more than it does Good Charlotte. “Old Man Samson” has a feeling in-between Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphies, and like most of their songs, ends before the second minute. This quick view on songs ensures that there is a sense of urgency that continues throughout all of “Minority Rules”, a technique that is directly drawn from bands like Operation Ivy. In fact, tracks on “Minority Rules” look back to the more halcyon days of punk and show a band that is more competent with their instruments than 90% of their punk rock contemporaries, and do contain more of a message than most of the “lets start a band so we can get laid” type of people. Blink 182 does seem to make a major impression on Whole Wheat Bread, especially during “Police Song”, a track that is fueled more by its two-member harmony than its shrill guitars.

Making the disc much more of an impact on their listeners, Darian Rundall has made “Minority Rules” into one of the most memorable punk albums of the last decade. Everything is so fresh and clear, each drum beat, bass line, and guitar riff; tracks like “No Future” has a density to it that I’m almost afraid that stars will begin to gravitate towards the band. Each track on “Minority Rules” has potential in terms of a pop flair, a solid instrumentation, and a full sound, and in revolutionary (in terms of arrangement) tracks like “Overrated”, individuals will see the band as being much more than their influences.

The three hidden tracks show the individual members of Whole Wheat Bread are not just one-trick ponies; moving into rap, each member shows that they are as adept in that form of music as they were on the rest of the disc. The only thing that I really wonder about is where Whole Wheat Bread could go for their future discs; when a band does an album as solid as “Minority Rules”, the expectations are enormous for any future recording. I know, with how amazing this album was, that I will be expecting the stars.

Top Tracks: Old Man Samson, Overrated

Rating: 8.3/10