The ‘90s turned a lot of genre names to crap. Ska, of course, but pop punk as well. That being said, the fact that ‘pop’ is short for popular escapes most folks. And whatever pop punk became was still decent when contrasted with the travesty that was most of America’s brief flirtation with ska music.

Regardless, at this point pretty much no one proclaims themselves a pop punk band, which is really a damnable shame. The best punk should have some pop bent to it seeing as that the more thrashy variety isn’t really palatable to most folks. Even with that, though, having fans isn’t the point – making good music is. And Sacramento’s the Bananas do just that, for the most part.

Since the late ‘90s the California band has released a slew of small run singles and even a few full lengths from the inland nation that is Sacto. Working with Plan-It X for the majority of its long players – and most recently with Recess Records – hasn’t gifted the Bananas with too much of a shot at wide spread acclaim. But considering the fact that the ensemble doesn’t too frequently make it outta Cali to tour has something to do with that.

So, while most likely no one reading this isn’t going to get a chance to see the band live, the Bananas’ albums – which are mostly available for less than ten bucks apiece – should give listeners pretty much what they want out of a cut rate rock band (that’s meant in the most positive terms).

The song writing across the group’s four albums is pretty much consistent, although, after making it through the group’s discography it’s easy to hear how the Bananas have grown. That being said the ensemble’s third album – Nautical Rock ‘n Roll – is a bit too slick when compared with the its previous efforts. There’s nothing embarrassing there, but A Slippery Subject – and yes that’s a banana joke - needs to be thought of as the band’s perfected approach to punk and pop.

The loose playing that pervades each of the group’s albums is still well represented on A Slippery Subject even as the song writing and musical performances seem to have reached a point of perfection. The lone complaint that listeners might levy upon this – or any – effort from the Bananas camp is the fact that each song is basically of a uniform construction. That means that there just aren’t too many surprises that crop up across the duration of the album. But even latter album entries like “Mercenary” possess enough of a melodic pitch and well construed vocal harmonies (that term is applied loosely here) as to make it decent way to move towards the close of a recording.

Really, though, there’re highlights all over the place here – “Rebecca” and “Me and My Shadow” perhaps being the most repeatable and singable. A Slippery Subject just doesn’t have a downer moment on it making the disc ideal for those long summer road trips when speeding down the freeway doesn’t pose too much a problem – or hibernating in the winter when it’s too cold to do anything other than wait for a break in the weather.