Release Date: August 18, 2008

Label: Fat Wreck Chords

Tracks: 7

Rating: 7

Lagwagon is in many ways the flagship of Fat Wreck Chords. The first band to sign to the label aside from the obvious inclusion NOFX, Lagwagon has been one of the most loyal bands to Fat Wreck Chords, and the five California punk musicians have done Fat Mike proud without fail.

I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon is a tribute to the lengthy career Lagwagon has spent not only with Fat Wreck Chords but in the music scene in general. Unsurprisingly, the band chose the album title with its usual sense of humour; however, the content of the record is less funny than a fan would expect.

I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon is short and to the point, featuring a mere seven tracks. Despite the lack of length (the entire record plays for no more than 19 minutes), there are those basic, necessary aspects of a Lagwagon album that shine through strongly enough to quell the anger at what first seems like a missing half hour of top-quality music.

?B-Sides? is the first song on the playlist, and within seconds Lagwagon fans will find themselves smiling at the guitar harmonics, Joey Cape’s unmistakable vocals and lyrics, and the pure, clear melody that has come to define this band.

The incendiary lyrics, as usual, say it all, layered over literally perfect musical composition and performance:

?Think about it, the world defines you. Think about it, think about it all; you should be depressed but no little pill will make any difference,? from ?No Little Pill.?

One major element of the music on every Lagwagon record to date is the obvious humour that is incorporated into an otherwise serious, socially oriented sound. If you are familiar with Lagwagon, you will already know that the band is equated with so-called funny political and social songs that not only get the audience riled up for a good show and wholehearted social activism, but make us all laugh simultaneously at the ludicrousness of the world around us.

I can’t help but feel that if I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon were only the length of a regular album, Lagwagon would have been able to work this normal, expected humour into the record.

Of course, maybe this was the point of the endeavour. Who can say?