If you toured the Northeast in the 2000s, then you probably rolled through Allentown, Pennsylvania. You may have trucked out there to see a warm up show before a Pointless Fest, or to see a hot shit hardcore band play a small(er) show to a room packed with enthusiastic starved kids instead of a dark bar casually populated with jaded twenty-somethings in New York City. You may have played a show there because the "out of the way" places were more willing to book your band than the "more desirable" big towns. You may have stopped by Double Decker and bought too many records and you may have, in one of those moments, thought that Lehigh Valley might just be a place that you could see yourself living. I know I did. The basement where you may have seen one of those wild and sweaty shows was called The Pirate's Cove - the toilet sometimes leaked into the basement (sometimes onto the head of a relatively famous '80s UK punk rocker), there were a couple of support beams smack in the middle of the audience that partially blocked your view...and fuck were the shows great. The vibe was great, the kids were real, it just felt honest and sincere. If you had one of these experiences, then you might have seen YO MAN, GO! play at The Pirate's Cove, and I'm telling you there's no better environment for a band like this. Without the above context, this 2006 tape is filled with anthemic, high energy melodic punk. Full stop. But there's something about the vocal break "I just want you to put your hand in mine!" and picturing yourself in that fucking basement and...well, DIY punk just fukkn rules. Those who are averse to feeling good and maybe singing along, or who have not experienced any of the memories in the previous sentences, might want to proceed with caution. For the rest of you: Welcome To Allentown. It was great there.
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