The debut album of Dutch rockband Exit 31 features twelve rock songs in the vein of the band’s main influence: Greenday. ‘Phonogenic’ has the lively boost that punk rock requires and there are a couple of real solid songs. The best punk rock song ‘Puzzles’ is also the bands weak spot. The track is so close to the stuff Greenday plays that it’s almost impossible to appreciate this effort. The rock version of Madonna’s ‘Frozen’ sounds more original and might even be the best cover I’ve heard in ages. I don’t know what it is with ‘Ray Of Light’, but somehow this album really hit it off with rock fans. This one is immediately followed by the odd ‘Mother Theresa’, an acoustic guitar track (a little Paul Gilbert here) with excellent harmony vocals.

This one makes you wonder whether vocalist Ivo Penders was made for singing rock music. I know this one has little to do with rock music, but damn ‘Mother Theresa’ is truly beautiful.

‘Phonegenic’ is hard to rate. The straight punk rock tracks fall short, that is, they don’t exceed standard Greendayish attempts. What makes this album worth buying are the odd ones. ‘Frozen’, ‘Mother Theresa’ and ‘On My Way’. These prove to me that the future of this band doesn’t lie in punk rock. Exit 31 has got a hard decision to make. They’re not good enough for the popular punk rock scene… but the genre in which the band excels just isn’t that popular.