FROM THE NASHVILLE SCENE - AUGUST 20, 2004: Stage Dive

THE 8TH GRADE PLAY TEEN BUBBLEGUM POP THAT GROWNUPS CAN CHEW ON

By Elizabeth Orr and Marie Yarbrough

Last Friday at 12th & Porter, The 8th Grade came out of a hibernation for the first show with their new bassist, Matt Sexton, and presented a short but lively set filled with plenty of crowd-pleasing power chords and teenage angst. The band lived up to their name with a set of infectious songs that never strayed beyond cool cars, crushes, break-ups and other high-school dramas.

The rhythms of the songs complemented the various teenage moods of singer-guitarist Paul Cassella's lyrics. The fast escalating riff of the punk-pop "25 Phone Calls" forced him to pack in mounting lyrics about the exaggerated stresses of a crush turned obsession. With "Lunch Function," the slow pulsing guitar allowed Cassella to whine, like a moping teenager, about the cruel social injustices served up at lunch.

Cassella demonstrated a wide vocal range; at times his contorted face seemed to show a struggle with some high notes, other times he wailed with ease. Bassist Sexton was most at home onstage, comfortable enough to swivel his hips jerkily to the beat of almost every song, in a serious display of lascivious self-indulgence. Between songs and during tuning breaks, a prerecorded voice-over introduced each member of the band in game-show fashion and later cued the crowd to the last song of the show.

The 8th Grade closed their set with an enthusiastic cover of AC/DC's teenage revenge anthem "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" that had a group of frat boys bobbing their heads and tapping their feet. Drummer James Pecora provided the gurgled baritone chorus, while Cassella and Sexton jumped around happily in awe of the song. By teenager standards, it was a dramatic ending to the night. By adult standards, it was chance to chew on some tasty wads of bubble gum power pop.