4 Stars from thepunksite.com...

Classified Frequency make no bones about having one foot in the past, they have a sound that winds back the clock to the tail end of the 1990’s, an era when pop punk was hitting it’s peak and power pop was riding the crest of a wave, but with their latest release, Black Eye, it’s obvious that their other foot is planted firmly in the here and now. The band has been steadily pounding the streets in the DC and Baltimore scene and all along the east coast for the best part of the last decade, releasing two EP’s along the way, now they are set to release their latest four track offering, Black Eye, that follows on from 2014’s Reach Out EP.

Tenet Kicks off the Black Eye EP and I’m forced to check whether this is an unreleased track by Against Me!, that isn’t intended as a slight against Classified Frequency rather it’s that the charged riff and vocals recall the style of some of my favourite Against Me! tracks, and believe me that isn’t a bad thing. This is followed by the title track that returns to the band’s self proclaimed ‘fusion cock rock’ style and is more akin to summery power pop than punk rock, this is followed by the lead single, No More Sex, that is a plea to a loved one that they don’t want to have anymore sex in public bathrooms, that channels Joan Jett with it’s glam rock stomp drum beat and big chorus. Complicated rounds out the EP with a fine track that comes straight outta the Cheap Trick stable, again this isn’t a slight, rather a compliment to a fine slab of power pop.

Black Eye is a solid four tracks of power pop and what they insist on calling ‘fusion cock rock’ that has adopted a slight punk rock edge alongside the summery melodies and infectious style of their latest release. Black Eye is an EP that fans of late 90’s power pop and rock will lap up, think of American Hi-Fi, Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne and Lit but with touches of 90’s rock and punk thrown into the mix and you have a release that doesn’t so much leave you with a Black Eye as a ridiculous grin on your face, at least that was my reaction to Classified Frequency‘s latest release.

http://thepunksite.com/reviews/single-review-classified-frequency-black-eye-ep/