The American Professionals – We Make It Our Business

And the business is  Powerpop.

Back in 2010, The American Professionals released on of my favorite EPs of that year. Chock full ‘o great harmonies and larger than life, rip-snorting guitar riffs, The Specialist sounded as if The Professionals (the band Paul Cook and Steve Jones formed after the Pistols) joined forces with America’s favorite band of the 90’s, Material Issue. Although I thought The Specialist to be a bit inconsistent, the song had BALLS.

The American Professionals’ follow up to that very promising EP is here.Four years since their lat release, We Make It Our Business is a  pretty decent effort from some musicians who obviously have a knack for catchy hooks and Beatlesque melodies, enough to make most any powerpop fan happy. They’ve really got the formula down. Perhaps too much so.

We Make It Our Business is missing the reckless spirit that made The Specialist, well…special. The songs are fine and execution is very competent. That should be enough for any fan of the band. That being said, I don’t see anything that stands out quite as much as the title track of The Specialist did for me. The LP seems to lack the spontineity that the EP had. Is it a production thing? I dunno.

We Make It Our Business is a decent effort and will please fans but I can’t help but feel that it should have been more.