Rumspringa - Sway

(Cantora Records)
After googling the word “rumspringa” I found an article in Wikipedia saying it was derived from the Pennsylvania German term meaning “running around,” and it seems that would be a great way to describe the new album from Los Angeles natives, Rumspringa. The name of the band’s first studio release is Sway, and the fact that it is their first makes it all that more impressive.

The band’s opening track and single, “Queer Eyed Boy” sums up the record pretty well - intense guitar at the forefront of a majority of the tracks and a bizarre singing voice that sounds like it belongs to a 90’s grunge band. What I found most interesting about this disc was its obvious progression. While the first few tracks have the previously mentioned sound in “Queer Eyed Boy,” the album almost seems to get grittier and more bizarre with every track. The song “Criminal Love” is a great example of the punk guitar riffs that seem to characterize Rumspringa and the less-than-normal lyrics in “Triptych” are continued throughout the rest of the album.

Overall, Rumspringa has managed to put out a great debut that is sure to pave the way for a long career making great punk rock music. And, even if the album may be a little bizarre at times, there is no doubt that Rumspringa is talented and once they develop their sound into something that will decisively separate them from other indie punk bands they are sure to be successful.
Chantelle Moghadam