With the release of 2012’s Short Songs LP, it’s probably no surprise to any fan of Silverstein that the Ontario melodic hardcore band has a deep love for classic punk and pop-punk bands (the album featured one side of short, fast punk originals and one side of cover songs by the likes of Green Day, Descendents, Dead Kennedys and NOFX). So when we asked Silverstein’s singer Shane Told to talk about his favourite album currently, his choice was no shock at all. Yep, he recommended a pop-punk album we were already very familiar with (in return, we completely forgot to recommend a certain recipe column done by a certain handler of this same certain band… whoops!).
Told: I’ve got a lighter record for you. I’ve been listening to the latest Masked Intruder record. You know them, right?
Oh yeah, totally…
And I love the record. It’s soooo much fun. Music has gotten very serious and the fun side of music… like, even the pop-punk stuff is either serious or just funny in the wrong ways, whereas this Masked Intruder album is just light-hearted, good-time pop-punk. And I just love their whole schtick with the criminals in love thing. I just love that, and I’m a big fan of the record. The songwriting is incredible and I love the vocals and the way they are understated; it’s just perfect.
How did you get turned onto Masked Intruder?
[Laughs] We were actually in Spain doing this very random one-off show and the guy who picked us up at the airport in his van was listening to this punk rock, and I was like, “What is this?” He said it was Masked Intruder and I had heard a little bit of their first record, but this new one really blew me away. So it’s funny that I came across it through our random Spanish van driver. And that he was a big fan of Fat Wreck Chords punk…
Well, I know you’re a big fan of the classic pop-punk sound. How does a band like Masked Intruder compare to the bands you grew up on?
It’s a nice throwback for me. But for me it was different, because when I was 14 or 15 it was all about Pennywise and NOFX and Rancid and Lagwagon. I wanted everything to be fast and aggressive, so I wanted it that style and I wasn’t really looking for super poppy stuff. So it’s a little bit on the other side for me. But I just love the record; some of the chord progressions they use are just great, and it’s as honest musically as people in masks could ever be. [Laughs]
The sensitive criminals, eh?
That’s right!
Masked Intruder‘s MI is out now on Fat Wreck Chords.
Silverstein‘s I Am Alive in Everything I Touch is out on May 15 on Rise Records.
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