Pop, Punk, Power, Pterodactyls? No wait....

The Romeros "Tonight"

The Romeros "Love Notes"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Power pop is alive and well on the Chicago's south side. Drinking and dancing have been mainstays of that area for years, partly due to its largely Irish contingent, but also thanks to the likes of Chicago area bands like Cheap Trick and Naked Raygun. The Romeros pick up the torch and spit cheap whiskey all over it, with their hoppy punk tunes that incorporate both rock and rolling all night as well as partying every day.

The Romeros would probably cite bands like the Replacements, the Cars and the Old 97s as their heroes, and its obvious when you listen to their songs. Songs like "Tonight" sound like demos begging to be produced by the likes of Ric Ocasek, while "Big In Japan" is as much a nod to Cheap Trick's Live At Budokan as it is a daydream of the rock star life.

Live the Romeros are at the top of their game. They beg you to get up and be part of the party. Bands like this don't come around much anymore, the kind of old school attitude that doesn't believe in irony, even though the other bands on the bill are probably singing songs about Sega Genesis and Chuck Norris.Yeah, thats funy, sort of, but does it ROCK? I didn't think so.