This was a very pleasant surprise.  When I heard Citizen Fish had a new album out I was psyched so when I had a chance to see Subhumans (the current and former band of several CF members) in KC I saw they were selling it and nabbed it.  On their first album in nearly a decade, Citizen Fish dole out another round of their ska flavored punk where tasty horns collide with an often raw and chaotic sense of rock and punk full of rough power chords and a shitload of hooks.  They also continue their path of examining the human condition in both social and political terms lyrically tackling consumerism, gobnalization, television, punk factionalism, alienation and the like with a strong stance against the system.  Citizen Fish has always been a band that’s stood somewhat part from the ska punk bandwagon when they started back in the early 90s, realying more on the punk/DIY ethic the members had a role in starting to some point.  This album continues that tradition and we’re all better off for that.  Get this.  (BOONE)

(Alternative Tentacles Records. P.O. Box 419092. San Francisco, CA 94141-9092. alternativetentacles.com)