I came to the party late. Yeah, this disc is a few years old, but what’s all this nonsense about the Exploding Hearts? Yeah, both the Busy Signals and that defunct NW group have a predilection for ‘70s punk and power pop, but to compare the two seriously reveals the inability for rock writers to independently think about a disc. Ok, both groups are on Dirtnap. You know who else is/was on Dirtnap? The Cripples. And those guys sound like drunken robots fighting with the instruments of a new wave band. So, for real folks, listen to a disc, digest it and think. That’s all. Just think.

I realize that this might be too punchy to make any sense at this point, but the Busy Signals deserve your attention despite the fact that I have no idea from whence they come. A MySpace page says Brooklyn, but every other site references Chicago. Beyond that, though, the group sports folks that have done time with the Feelers (Columbus) as well as the Carbonas (Atlanta). Anyway, the Busy Signals, regardless of what its mailing address currently is, finds itself fronted by Ana McGorty. She might get checked as some Patti Smith disciple, but she’s a bit to breathy for that – and yes that’s still in comparison to Smith who comes off as something more than hushed, even while screaming. Make sense?

Perhaps a good touchstone would be a lower pitched Exene. The X reference might serve to explain the rest of the music here as well. While the Busy Signals don’t get all rockabilly, the pop elements from the Los Angeles band get a work out here. Each track represented on the band’s self titled disc from 2007 comes in at around two minutes, if not more protracted than that. But the approach to song writing fits the group perfectly.

This music isn’t over thought, although it’s professionally executed and properly conceived. The Busy Signals have a tendency to crank out the back up vocals a bit too much (“Tell Me,” “Matter of Time”), but an argument could be made that the approach only fleshes out these songs. Maybe. But even if it doesn’t, the fact that those vox are included points to the abilities of all involved.

Where the inclusion of back up singing works out best, though, is on a track that sports a pretty obnoxious, but functional guitar line. “Just 4 Show,” and it’s airtight sentiment, fit seamlessly into the crop of pop songs here, and for reasons unbeknownst to me, the confluence of cheesy guitar and dual vocals works to good affect while all involved sing about posing - posing hard.

Clocking in at a scant twenty whatever minutes, listeners might find themselves looking for more material from the band – there’re a few singles here and there. But really, the disc is strong enough to warrant hitting play again and running through each of the tracks once more. And sadly, there aren’t too many modern punker discs that the sentiment can be figured about.