From the opening moments of Dizzy Pleasure Club’s self-titled EP, the band members wear their love for power chord driven pop-punk on their collective sleeve. Their’s is a new, unfaded sleeve — DPC’s Dec. 11 Wilkes-Barre date will be their second-ever performance.

“I think we all grew up on pop-punk and have an instinct to appreciate a song that’s catchy, whether it’s phoned-in or not,” said Nicholas Heitman, who plays bass in the band. “We wanted to take a crack at it, especially since it seems like not many bands in our circle are trying it.”

Heitman’s circle is the modern hardcore scene — he and DPC vocalist/guitarist Pat McCrory play together in Maryland’s Angel Du$t, while guitarist Mike French comes to the band via California’s In Between. Drummer Robin Zeijlon, of Washington D.C. act Pure Disgust, rounds out the roster.

The project started when a conversation — and McCrory’s impersonation of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong — inspired French to start working on songs. After a night of writing, he sent the guitar riffs he came up with to the others and they hit the ground running. Heitman contributed the band’s name.

“The name comes from a building in Dundalk, Maryland,” Heitman said. “I pass it on the way to my parents’ when I go to visit them. My parents had their wedding reception there.”

If that story doesn’t make DPC the most pop-punk band ever, the group’s songs may earn it that designation. The five-track EP makes it clear that Heitman and company are fluent in the language of the genre, which familiar harmonies carrying genre-standard lyrics over pre-approved power chords. The entire collection sounds like one big homage to the first CD a ’90s kid may have purchased with their allowance money, whether that was Blink-182’s “Enema of the State,” New Found Glory’s “Sticks and Stones” or Green Day’s “Dookie.” The only purposeful nod in GPC’s material addresses the latter.

“The only intentional homage is to Green Day on the first song,” Heitman said. “We did this to weed out the posers as early as possible.”

Pop-punk send-ups aside, DPC’s debut EP is a solid release that deserves to share mix tape space with any band working in the genre full-time. To watch them share stage space with tour mates In Between and local acts Adam McIlwee, One Step Closer and Far Away Places, head to The Other Side, located at 119 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, at 7 p.m. Dec. 11. Admission is $10.

Dizzy Pleasure Club may not be the full-time project of any of its four members, but the band’s debut five-song EP is a solid collection of pop-punk recordings.
https://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Guilty-Pleasure-Club-toned.jpgDizzy Pleasure Club may not be the full-time project of any of its four members, but the band’s debut five-song EP is a solid collection of pop-punk recordings. Submitted photo

Dizzy Pleasure Club may not be the full-time project of any of its four members, but the band’s debut five-song EP is a solid collection of pop-punk recordings.
https://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Guilty-Pleasure-Club-untoned.jpgDizzy Pleasure Club may not be the full-time project of any of its four members, but the band’s debut five-song EP is a solid collection of pop-punk recordings. Submitted photo
The band’s second live performance will take place Dec. 11 at The Other Side in Wilkes-Barre

By Gene Axton

gaxton@timesleader.com

Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts