Mike TV has really pulled out all the stops with this album, and has made a damn near perfect album. Now I have been a fan of these guys for some time, watching them at Mr. T’s Bowl long before they released thee completely perfect album SO YOU’VE RUINED YOU LIFE, one of the ultimate punk albums with Mike’s poetry shouting it out and brining it home. And I have to admit that I was not as big a fan of ORDINARY WORLD their second album. I still loved the lyrics, but with the new lineup for the band, and the addition of Eric Summer on Viola the band had mellowed out a little too much for my taste. Well with the third album Mike has managed to find a balance between the 2 albums, creating a musical vision that is as rocking as their first album, but at the same time as beautiful as the second album.

The album starts out with the amazing IT’S ALRIGHT, which shows a bit of a shift in subject matter, the first album being about Sex and Drugs, the second being about Drugs and Death, and the this one adding a lot more love to the mix. This song is about the world bringing him down, but it is all alright as long as he is with his girl. Quite a sweet song actually.

SWEET LITTLE KISSES is also about love, though love and sex, which Mike does delve into a lot. It is a very enjoyable song with an excellent chorus, about loving you right, where the viola really mixes in with the guitar very well.

I’LL BE YOUR HEROIN is another show stopper. Again singing about a woman, and how he will be the monkey on her back, her heroin, making her life easier and better. A classic Mike TV love song, seen from a perspective that the normal music world doesn’t go into. Again the Viola really adds to the song.

I’M A GONER catches you right off with a great tune, and another song about a girl. This one about a fan of his music, and how hard he fell for her (do I sense a pattern?) and how he will probably hurt himself again because of this girl. And there is a great line all about all there songs sounding so happy, but feeling so sad, which is certainly a long standing theme with Mike TV.

IT MUST BE LOVE is another Love song about how jealous and horrible he feels when his girl hangs out with other guys, or even has other guys looking at her. I guess Mike must be falling in love this time around. Another excellent tune.

THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS is another love song, but again from an angle you don’t usually here. Here it is being too broke to be in love, because he can’t afford to be with her, and their relationship can only be sex and lust, though he would love to have so much more. Another great song.

TIGHTEN THE VERSES is song that is is Mike being completely down on himself and everything he does, and it all comes down to him wanting the girl around. Another beautiful love song from Mike’s unique perspective.

NOTHING KEEPS US APART is a love song about a man trying to make the life of his lover better. He knows there is nothing he can do about her problems, because she won’t let him in, and she has been hurt too badly, but he will be there for her. Really another wondrous love song courtesy of Mike TV.

YOU’RE GONNA DIE ALONE breaks away from the tone of the love songs (though does fit in), with him ranting about this woman and how bad she is, and how she is going to die alone because she is so bad. This time you wonder how much she hurt him to make him hate her so badly.

EVERYBODY GET MOVIN’ is a great song about sitting stuck in LA traffic and wanting to crash your car and light it on fire, and hoping everyone dies. The feeling everyone has had in Los Angeles traffic, but usually don’t say out loud. And of course could also be interpreted to be about relationships…

THIRTEEN is a song I have loved for a long time, since he used to play this before the first album, but the song has gotten even better with the new lineup. It is about a thirteen year old sneaking out, and being in love, having had to grow up too fast in this new world. And with an absolutely stirring chorus. This song will not ever leave you.

5TH & SPRING is about a girl who is ruining her life with her drug addiction, and lying about it to her friends and herself. Another great drug song that makes you feel for the character.

GET WHAT’S COMING TO YOU is another twisted love song. This song is about him being the only guy for this woman that is so hard and vicious, but he can’t stop, and only wants to be with her. The music and the viola really go along with the twisted vision of this song.

CRIME & HERESY Another love song with a twist, this time wanting to live a life of crime with the woman he loves. Quite an enjoyable tune.

FUCK YOU (I WANT TO) is an amazing song. This really shows Mike’s lyrics off, because this is one of those things that a guy might think, but would not say out-loud, but here is MIKE TV screaming at the top of his lungs about how he wants to fuck his girl hard and raw! This songs rocks, and you have to see it performed live to really appreciate how much this gets an audience worked up.

YOU’RE THE INFECTION draws you in with it’s melody, and is another love song, but again twisted. About how this girl is not good in so many ways, but she is lovely for him, and he doesn’t want her to leave him, she is dangerous and everything he really wants. You will enjoy this for sure.

The album closes out with NOTHING TURNS ME ON, which is of course another twisted love song. His whole life is boredom and ennui, and nothing goes right, nothing helps him at all, except of course her, his one girl.

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This is really such a beautiful album of love songs. Mike TV has always had such incredible lyrics and tells such vivid stories, and the music here really rocks and brings you along on this journey. If you buy this album and only this album this year, you will not be disappointed. Thanks Mike.