By Madeline Kerins

From the depths of the Minnesota suburbs springs the feisty pop punk four-piece Tora! Tora! Torrance!. In cases where there is not much else to do except do nothing at all, these four boys figured out how to do a little more than nothing.

Their sophomore release, A Cynic’s Nightmare, further displays the influence of New York City’s post-punk genre. It is easy to relate Tora! Tora! Torrance! to Hot Hot Heat or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs-besides their obvious tendency to make band names out of three repetitions of one word, each band’s sound is distinctly similar.

As much of an oxymoron as it may sound, distinctly similar seems to be the only appropriate way of labeling these three prominent members of the same genre. While Hot Hot Heat has more of straightforward rock sound, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs lean more towards the punk end of the spectrum, Tora! Tora! Torrance! seem stuck somewhere in the middle, borrowing from many different genres to complete their sound.

While the first four tracks are so alike they almost create a wall of sound, luckily, Tora! Tora! Torrance! begin to truly unveil their creativity on the final five or six tracks of the album. Beginning with “Bury The Hatchet In Yr Chest,” which is full of jagged guitar hooks and catchy drumbeats, the rest of the disc really makes up for lost time.

The self-described “musical digression” continues with “Bury the Hatchet in the Ground,” the almost entirely instrumental sequel to perhaps one of the album’s best tracks. Electrically charged “Sweet Sweat” comes second to last, and not a minute too soon. This refreshingly different track is a perfect example of Tora! Tora! Torrance!’s punk influences.

Finally rounding out the disc is “U F O,” a mellow, keyboard and sound effects enhanced sentimental track that has almost a Pink Floyd vibe to it. It is in songs like this that Tora! Tora! Torrance! reveal their wonderfully diverse musical abilities. It is just a bit of a shame that they wait halfway through the album to do so.