Pointless
Self-Released
Street: 09.12.12
PTO = Grandaddy + early Nada Surf + Rentals
By now, Pointless has possibly gotten just as many plays on my stereo as it would have on a college radio station two decades ago. Even though the album’s performers are just four local (and young) dudes, they could still easily pass as Clinton-era slackers. Everything from Chad Hokama’s persistent synth harmonies to Nate Housley’s crunch-and-whine vocalizing leaves no corner unrounded, prominently showcased from the charged “Your Defeat,” to the pithier “Ooh Ooh Ooh.” Housley’s lyrics circle around aloof overtures and unperturbed observations, rendering songs that sound like Neil Young’s folk tunes awash in swells of Archers of Loaf textures. PTO’s indie coming-of-age style certainly isn’t a new animal by any means, but the amazing feat lies solely in how they adeptly used it to compose a solid and almost flawless underdog album for today’s youth—the kind who never received America Online trial discs in the mail.