Popmortem [LP]

Popmortem is the second LP from "vine-ripened" Central Florida punk outfit, Virginity. Or is it? Perhaps it's more accurately described as a debut from this version of a constantly evolving crew of mature punks who write from the vantage point of a nearly entirely domesticated life. Much of Popmortem's running time gives Casey Crawford a sounding board for his own creative process, giving it a dark coat of paint on "Nosferattitude (The Vampire Song)" and even defanging his own mental hurdles on "What's the Point?" Whether you first hear it in the pop punk spryness of feel-something hit of the summer "IamYOUareMEtoo" or in the spikiness of "You Can't Stop the Machine" or not, it's clear that Virginity wants to write pop songs that can hold their own next to some of the greats, but the pull of journalistic integrity swerves everything into punk rock's haunted grey areas. Add in Jack Shirley (Jeff Rosenstock, Telethon) as the record's mixer and mastering engineer and Popmortem sparkles more than it shudders.