by Harmon Patriquin

While fondly remembered by some, especially since it garnered a large following in its home state of Alabama and the west coast, Pain is a band that never truly made it into the limelight. Its greatest stroke of fame was creating a song for Cartoon Network’s Groovies promotion (the song in question, “Jabberjaw: Running Under Water” saw constant play as a commercial bumper on the Boomerang channel for a number of years), but last year, many former members of the band, including lead singer and songwriter Dan Lord, came back together as Salvo, went on tour with some old favorites, and dropped their latest album: Off the Charts. In honor of this relatively recent revival, I felt it fitting to write up a review on my favorite album by them: Midgets with Guns.

The style of Pain is often called into question, and while many are wont to call it ska punk or even “pop-ska-punk,” Lord himself has tried to distance himself from the ska label, claiming the band took no inspiration from Jamaican music. In his own eyes, Pain’s musical style can simply be boiled down to being “happy.” While certain tracks on Midgets with Guns absolutely fall under this category (“Square Pegs” is one of their most unabashedly energetic songs, rivaling “Suckerpunch” off their album Wonderful Beef), I personally find Pain to have more depth than just pure happiness, and it shows on the varied tracks of the album. Lord’s lyrics combined with the heavy horn sections and catchy melodies serve as a way of demonstrating a wide range of emotions that all seemingly come from different viewpoints, with a common theme of trying to find a place in a world that sees you as an outcast. While the previously mentioned “Square Pegs” seems to tell a tale of personal motivation and desire to improve oneself, other songs carry a less happy tone. “The People, The People” gives off an air of anxiety, with the singer expressing confusion over their own self image and “what to do or say,” with superhero fantasies that culminate into an increasingly rapid and unnerving outro. In the vein of fantasy, “One-Legged Girl” tells the tale of a wistful lover who tries to gain the aid of “little people” to give him the power to woo the object of his affection, the titular girl, all while ostensibly drunk on wine. Most spiteful of all is “Grudge,” describing the singer’s unrequited love for a “chick with parachute pants” in the 80s, ending with the notion that she must’ve peaked early and that the singer’s time in life is yet to come. As much as I admire Lord for his iconic voice and clever lyrics, this is why I must disagree with him simply calling Pain a “happy” band. A wide range of human emotions and experiences are expressed in their music, but the one unifying emotion is clear. Pain to me isn’t “happy;” Pain is “optimistic.”No other song expresses this overriding emotion of the album more than the two “Pose Ode” tracks. Beginning with a melancholy acoustic track at the beginning album, “Pose Ode” comes back in full force at the end of the album, extended with new lyrics that celebrate overcoming the pain we all experience in life until we all have “the money to retire.” A testament to the fears, freaks, and oddities of humanity, Midgets with Guns may have some weaker tracks (“Island of Fear” is nonsensical, mildly homophobic, and sticks out as a weak point musically and “Ellen,” as much as I love the melody and lyrics, is plagued by an awful and irreverent middle section), but I find it to be one of the most optimistic albums I know of and some of the happiest punk ever made. For a genre often dominated by negative emotions, Pain’s discography is a breath of fresh air.