Handsome Devil

The music industry is making tons of money off teenagers' allowances, of which half go to buying up pop-punk bands' albums such as Blink 182 and Sum 41. Record labels are trying to snatch up punk rockers so they can get a piece of the action while these bands are still hot, and turn the dye-haired, pierced, three-chord-playing degenerates into rock stars. Handsome Devil, another production of California's Orange County, is the latest of these efforts.\nWithin a year of forming the band, the foursome was offered a record contract and within another couple of months had produced its debut album Love and Kisses from the Underground. The music is typical of many punk bands: simple chords and bass lines and more importantly -- lyrics about heartbreak and being outcasts. \nThe one original thing about Handsome Devil is that the usual fast-paced guitar work and confusing wailing lyrics are replaced with slower-tempos and actual singing. Maybe it's just that the guitarists don't have enough musical talent to play the simple power chords fast, or maybe the band just wants to have a different sound, but whatever the reason is, it's good. Many of the songs are still up-beat, but the majority are slower and add a whole new layer to punk rock.\nThe single, "Makin' Money," is one of the best songs on the album and is all about the musicians wanting to be rock legends making easy money. The video, which was just released on their Web site, handsomedevilworld.com, features "Growing Pains" ' Alan Thicke in an informercial spoof. The video is hilarious and might be eating up the TRL charts if Carson Daly can get his greedy hands on it. Overall, Handsome Devil's freshman album is impressive and is one of the better discs released in the past few years of pop-punk craze. It will be a happy day for the band when the musicians start "Makin' Money" from the chain wallets that are filled with Daddy's cash.